Sister of man murdered in Philadelphia pushes back on DA: There is definitely a crime crisis
Operation Save Our City Founder Rosalind Pichardo on crime in Philadelphia.
The sister of a man murdered in Philadelphia pushed back on the city's district attorney for claiming there is not a crime "crisis" in the city.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Monday that the city is not plagued by a crime or violence crisis despite a record number of homicides so far in 2021.
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"He is the top law enforcement officer. If there was a crisis he would look bad. There is definitely a crisis here in the city of Philadelphia," Operation Save Our City Founder Rosalind Pichardo told "Fox & Friends."
"And how dare him say that the loss of a mother's child is not a crisis? …. This city is saturated with homicides. These streets are overwhelmed with death. And for him to say that there's no crisis, it's insane," she told host Steve Doocy.
Krasner insisted that while the city has seen a spike in gun violence, residents should not be worried about rising crime in general.
"We don’t have a crisis of lawlessness, we don’t have a crisis of crime, we don’t have a crisis of violence," the district attorney told reporters at a Monday press conference.
Krasner's comments prompted former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, a Democrat, to call for an apology in an op-ed.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner reacts while being mentioned by Danielle Outlaw at a press conference announcing her as the city's new police commissioner on Dec. 30, 2019. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)
"It’s important that we don’t let this become mushy and bleed into the notion that there is some kind of big spike in crime," Krasner said. "There isn't. There is not a big spike in crime. … There is not a big spike in violent crime. Neither one of these things is true."
Despite the fact that gun violence has gone "way up," other indicators, "which usually go up and down with gun violence," are staying "relatively flat," Krasner said.
PHILADELPHIA DA KRASNER SAYS CITY DOES NOT 'HAVE A CRISIS OF CRIME' DESPITE RECORD HOMICIDES
The Philadelphia Police Department has reported 521 homicides so far in 2021 – a 13% increase compared to 2020 and the city's highest number of killings since at least 2007. Shooting incidents have increased 4.4%, and the number of shooting victims has risen about 3% over the last year.
The rate of total violent offenses in the city, however, is down about 3% year-over-year, with armed robberies – which have increased 27% since 2020 – being the only other violent crime besides homicide that has gone up in 2021. Rape, unarmed robberies and aggravated assaults have decreased since last year. Property crime has risen 5% year-over-year.
Pichardo, whose brother Alexander Martinez was fatally shot in January 2012, said the blame for the crime crisis goes "across the board." She pointed to issues of gun control, district attorneys who are soft criminals and the media not devoting enough attention to rising crime.
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"You have got DA's who let criminals out on crime and then with gun possession, and then they come out, and then they murder someone’s kid like Samuel Collington. He was a wonderful kid. Murdered on the streets of Philadelphia. Like many hundreds of kids, murdered. It’s across the board," she said.
Collington, a 21-year-old Temple University student, was shot to death in a robbery attempt near campus late last month. A 17-year-old suspect turned himself into authorities a few days later.
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