2008 Woodie Awards
Editor's Column: Philadelphia needs to stop flushing away its budget
Issue date: 1/31/07 Section: Opinion
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Strolling down the Avenue of Arts or historic Old City, surrounded by rich culture, it would be hard to believe that you are spending time in one of the most dangerous cities in the nation. These aesthetic focal points of the city lure many tourists in through the city's Go Philly tourism program; however, they are a gilded façade for a city that is starving for some kind of restructuring.
Surpassing the rates of cities that are far more densely populated, such as New York and Los Angeles, Philadelphia's murder rate pushed over 400 during 2006. Firearms confiscated jumped by 392 this past year, and a significant increase in shootings resulted in totals nearing 1,950 by mid December. Clearly Philly is only "more fun when you stay overnight" if you're indoors.
The city has sustained continual budget cuts while the problems keep increasing, leaving local police and public safety forces with little to no financial leeway to tackle this problem. It seems as if city officials have just given up. Nevertheless, this is an issue that is not going to go away. As the numbers keep rising, the problem seeps into even the upper-class neighborhoods of the city, and we are certainly awakened by its implications on campus and in the classroom. We've all heard of the shooting that involved an St. Joe's student earlier this year, and we've seen the drastic increase in security measures on campus since that and other safety concerns occurred during the past semester.
But are Philadelphia's problems simply a result of a shortage of policing? That seems to be the catch-all response of the current administration to the increasing violent crimes of the area, but this cannot be the solution we are looking for. This is especially true of the current budget cuts that have been and continue to be enacted. In 2007, the White House is calling for yet another budget cut that will affect public safety, as much of the country's finances are tied up with the war effort. However, what is most troubling about all of these budget cuts is that while leafing through the local papers, it's impossible to find an entirely valid justification for them. A Philadelphia Inquirer article from Jan. 23, 2007 boasts of the city's $250,000 expenditure in installing "dozens of high-tech, self-cleaning . . . public pay toilets in its heaviest pedestrian and tourist areas." Toilets. It just seems that our priorities need to be straightened out a bit here.
Of course this problem does not have a simple, solitary solution. It is essential to consider the roots of the issue in new approaches to combating street violence, leading us to enact new educational and social programs. Clearly, this is the type of issue that takes years of program development and implementation, and a combination of factors, not a simple increase to the police force or a crackdown on firearms. Nevertheless, one place to start is to stop cutting public safety budgets for an over the top Porta-Potty.
Surpassing the rates of cities that are far more densely populated, such as New York and Los Angeles, Philadelphia's murder rate pushed over 400 during 2006. Firearms confiscated jumped by 392 this past year, and a significant increase in shootings resulted in totals nearing 1,950 by mid December. Clearly Philly is only "more fun when you stay overnight" if you're indoors.
The city has sustained continual budget cuts while the problems keep increasing, leaving local police and public safety forces with little to no financial leeway to tackle this problem. It seems as if city officials have just given up. Nevertheless, this is an issue that is not going to go away. As the numbers keep rising, the problem seeps into even the upper-class neighborhoods of the city, and we are certainly awakened by its implications on campus and in the classroom. We've all heard of the shooting that involved an St. Joe's student earlier this year, and we've seen the drastic increase in security measures on campus since that and other safety concerns occurred during the past semester.
But are Philadelphia's problems simply a result of a shortage of policing? That seems to be the catch-all response of the current administration to the increasing violent crimes of the area, but this cannot be the solution we are looking for. This is especially true of the current budget cuts that have been and continue to be enacted. In 2007, the White House is calling for yet another budget cut that will affect public safety, as much of the country's finances are tied up with the war effort. However, what is most troubling about all of these budget cuts is that while leafing through the local papers, it's impossible to find an entirely valid justification for them. A Philadelphia Inquirer article from Jan. 23, 2007 boasts of the city's $250,000 expenditure in installing "dozens of high-tech, self-cleaning . . . public pay toilets in its heaviest pedestrian and tourist areas." Toilets. It just seems that our priorities need to be straightened out a bit here.
Of course this problem does not have a simple, solitary solution. It is essential to consider the roots of the issue in new approaches to combating street violence, leading us to enact new educational and social programs. Clearly, this is the type of issue that takes years of program development and implementation, and a combination of factors, not a simple increase to the police force or a crackdown on firearms. Nevertheless, one place to start is to stop cutting public safety budgets for an over the top Porta-Potty.
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