Philadelphia Deploys More Officers to Violent Areas: 'We Need More Police,' Says Resident

The Philadelphia Police Department will deploy more officers to high-crime areas following a year in which the city surpassed 500 homicides.

Starting Monday, more than 100 officers will be dispersed across four districts in the North Philadelphia, Kensington and Tioga-Nicetown areas, Fox Philadelphia reported. The officers will be a mix of 40 newly graduated police officers and 60 administrative officers for a 30-work-day cycle that will last several weeks and repeat throughout the year.

THE MOST POPULATED CITY OF O SWEARS IN ITS FIRST SHERIFF

A marked Philadelphia Police Department vehicle with its emergency light activated. The department will disperse more officers to troubled neighborhoods to tackle violent crime.
(iStock)

The targeted areas account for nearly half of the city’s gun violence, the news outlet said.

“We are in a moment that we have never seen before, with the number of homicides that we have had in the city and the number of shooting victims,” First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford told the news station.

Fox News Digital has contacted the police department.

Philadelphia’s first deputy commissioner, John Stanford, said more officers will be deployed to troubled areas.
(Philadelphia Fox)

John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order Police Lodge, the police union that represents rank-and-file officers in the city, called the move a “safety issue” in support of patrol officers not getting any backing on the street.

Oronde McClain, a community member who was shot in the head as a child, told Fox Philadelphia that he supports additional police presence.

“We need more police officers,” McClain said. “If there are no police in the neighborhood, there is more crime.”