Philly Murder Rate

Argueably the most talent filled city in the entire world, Philadelphia! The city of Brotherly Love. Home of the cheesteak! Philadelphia is such a diverse city with people from every walk of life residing here. Bill Cosby, Will Smith, Kevin Bacon, Kenny Gamble, Meek Mill and a host of other great names come out this city. Talent? Yes! This city has it, but lately it seems as though all of the great accolades and accomplishments of the city in general are being overshadowed by something bigger. Something that every city is plagued with, but it has gotten out of control in Philly. I'm talking about the amount of homocides and senseless crimes that are spiking at an alarming rate in this city. 2012 has been a blood bath thus far, with 83 murders and counting, to date. Today is Sunday March 25, and currently there have been more people killed than days in this year. AND ITS ONLY MARCH! Families are losing loved ones left and right. Too many tears are being shed in a city that is supposed to be the city of "Brotherly Love". Currently, the city is on pace to shatter last years murder rate of 324 which was up 14 murders compared to 2010. In 2007, Philadelphia had 391 murders, under then police chief Sylvester Johnson. The city was in a tate of turmoil. In January 2008, Mayor Michael Nutter appointed our current police chief, Charles Ramsey, a man with over 40 years of experience in law enforcement. A man who was also Police commisioner in Chicago and Washington DC, which are also plagued with crime. Expectations for this guy were pretty high coming in. The homicides in Philly actually decreased in his first couple years, but as of last year to now, the murders are starting to pile up again. But why? Could it be the amount of police on the street? Are there enough of them? Maybe the question could be are there enough of them who actually care to help "protect and serve" rather than earn a paycheck? Or could the issue be with the youth in our city? Majority of crimes commited in Philadelphia are by people 21 and under. Yes, at that age many of us are young and dumb, but lately its as if nobody has morals, or standards anymore. Everyone settles for being followers rather than leaders. Swag overshadows intelligence. Lack of common sense is causing heart ache to families all over. Whatever the reason, this has got to STOP! I'm sure I speak for many of you when I say I'm tired of turning on the news seeing stories of good people being killed over stupidity. For instance, back in january, a pizza delivery man was set up and killed over a pizza. A PIZZA! Vanessa Banks, a great, loving, powerful young lady, and a woman I personally knew was murdered by her boyfriend because she wanted to end the relationship. A North Philly woman named Rosemary "Reyna" Fernandez-Rivera, was killed on January 23 because, police say, she witnessed a murder at the same spot the day after Thanksgiving. All of these murders were senseless acts of crime commited by people who didn't have enough intelligence to think beyond using a gun. Its sad. We as people need to take a stance on this and do something about it. Together we can rid our city of the dark cloud of negativy that hovers above Philly. How? That's a question I don't have an answer to, but I have great ideas. For starters, rid yourself of the word "hate" and everything that comes with it. This is 1 of the main reasons why people can't see the good in things. Second, educate yourself. More time in books or whaetver you do to educate yourself amounts to less time in the streets, which ultimately results in better decisions. This city is too talented to have such a bad rep as we do. And finally, teach! Teach others the importance of life. Teach values! The best gift you can give someone is knowledge. 1 voice can affect someone in ways you can't imagine. So in closing, I hope that what I'm speaking about is informative and makes someone want to take action to help turn this city around...