Public Safety Platform

By Tomas Sanchez

To this end, I propose the following:

Increased funding to support Community Policing efforts that have shown results in bringing community involvement that encourages cooperation and information sharing Increased funding for neighborhood-based town watch monitoring efforts Increased funding for Drug Courts which seek to treat offenders rather than imprison them. Research indicates that drug treatment is much less expensive and much more effective in decreasing recidivism than incarceration Target chronic violent offenders by establishing State/City collaboration efforts that allow for agencies to share information and resources. Often times, a community's most violent offenders commit the bulk of the crimes in those neighborhoods. By directly targeting these repeat offenders and taking a carrot and stick approach (job training and drug and alcohol rehabilitation) or stiffer penalties for continued violence by these specific repeat offenders, the community will gain the upper hand in dealing with offenders who are most likely to commit future crimes. Increase funding for police departments to purchase systems that will allow crime analysts to use predictive analytics software to analyze past and current information on arrests and incidents and develop maps of crime `hot spots' looking for patterns and trends. This information will allow police district captains to better mobilize their human resources and help fight crime better. Decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana to free up law enforcement officers to combat violent criminals and to use the resources formerly used to incarcerate cannabis offenders for rehabilitation and reentry programming Promotion and funding of restorative justice initiatives, especially for students Increased funding for surveillance cameras to be placed in high crime areas Tax credits for small businesses to install surveillance camera systems that allow for surveilling public ares outside of the subject property In the long run, in regards to reducing crime in Philadelphia and providing a safer environment for all citizens, I believe that prevention is the key. We most certainly cannot incarcerate our way into a safer society. The evidence of this is borne out by years of increasing imprisonment levels without a decrease in crime. We arrest and imprison too many low-level, non-violent crime offenders and in the process spend tremendous financial and human law enforcement resources combatting activity that does not directly address the violence and property crimes that most people fear. This type of crime and the resultant fear is the cause for so many people, families and companies leaving Philadelphia for the suburbs or to live in safer cities. Our tax base suffers and there are fewer resources available to devote to maintain our schools and neighborhoods. We must address this issue and prevention is the key to do so.

The issue of crime in Philadelphia and across this country is intimately tied to Education and Job Opportunities. The prisons of this country are full of individuals who were not prepared educationally or vocationally to compete for a good paying job in today's global job market. High school dropouts comprise a disproportionate percentage of the nation's prison inmates with 82% of prisoners in America being high school dropouts, dropouts are four times as likely to be unemployed as those who have completed four or more years of college, and they are more likely to apply for and receive public assistance than graduates of high school.

Clearly spending resources wisely on early childhood education, providing a quality education for all students and monitoring and engaging students to ensure that every student has the support, proactive programming and resources necessary to become a productive member of society will result in less crime and safer communities. My focus will be in this area.

At the same time, I strongly believe that we need to reevaluate our criminal justice system and begin to truly value rehabilitation instead of emphasizing punishment. Like William Penn and the Religious Society of Friends that first founded Pennsylvania, I believe that people have the potential to change, and that we as a society have an obligation to look for ways of rehabilitating offenders. Resources need to be redirected away from incarceration of low-level, non-violent offenders and to prevention and rehabilitation efforts. We must engage offenders and prepare them for reentry into society so that they can become productive members of society instead of a burden. The result will be a decrease in recidivism and in crime. This will be difficult work but our communities will be safer in the long run.