Mission Statement

To address Philadelphia’s enduring plague of gun violence by facilitating coordination among stakeholders and formulating a comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy.

History

In June 2017, Council President Darrell L. Clarke (5th District), Councilman Kenyatta Johnson (2nd District), and Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr. (4th District) on Thursday introduced a resolution authorizing the creation of a Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention that will convene research and leaders from sectors including government, law enforcement, public health, social services, and community development. In July 2017, Council President Darrell L. Clarke (5th District) named the members of the Special Committee, including co-chairs Councilman Kenyatta Johnson (2ndDistrict), City Managing Director Michael DiBerardinis, and Darrell G. O’Connor, a career law enforcement expert.

The Special Committee’s duties shall include, but not be confined to:

  • convening regular meetings for planning and coordination purposes;
  • examining the efficacy of current programs and policies, identifying local and national best practices, engaging community leaders;
  • increasing capacity for data collection and analysis; developing metrics to measure progress toward strategic goals;
  • reviewing allocation of City resources to ensure optimization of results; holding public hearings to highlight the Special Committee’s progress and solicit public input.

View video of the Special Committee announcement:

Co-Chair
Michael DiBerardinis

Mananging Director,
City of Philadelphia
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Co-Chair
Kenyatta Johnson

City Councilman,
2nd District
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Co-Chair
Darrell G. O'Connor

Retired,
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
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Special Committee Members

Council President Darrell L. Clarke (5th District) ex oficio
Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr. (4th District), Chair of the Council Committee on Public Safety
Bennie Price, Deputy Chief, Juvenile Probation and Parole Department
First Deputy Commissioner Myron Patterson, Philadelphia Police Department

Subcommittee Co-Chairs

Illegal Guns
Caroline McGlynn, Office of the District Attorney
Rob Reed, Office of the Attorney General

Public Health/Trauma Informed
Joel A. Fein, MD, MPH, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
Phil DeMara, Department of Behavior Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS)

Social Services/Opportunity
Timene Farlow, Department of Human Services (DHS)
George Mosee, Jr., Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network (PAAN)

 Intervention/Outreach
Shondell Revell, Office of Violence Prevention (OVP)
Bilal Qayyum, Philadelphia Anti-Violence Coalition (PAVC)

Program Review Team
Julie Wertheimer, Office of Criminal Justice (OCJ)
Joshu Harris, Director of Legislation, Office of Councilman Kenyatta Johnson

Victim Advocates
Aleida Garcia, National Homicide Justice Alliance (NHJA)
Dorothy Johnson-Speight, Mothers in Charge
Anthony Murphy, Town Watch Integrated Services (TWIS)

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