Philadelphia mayoral candidate David Oh zeros in on crime, safety

PHILADELPHIA - As Philadelphia's race for mayor reaches its home stretch, Republican candidate David Oh says his vision for the mayor's office focuses mainly on crime prevention.

In an interview with FOX 29's Jeff Cole, Oh, a longtime member of Philadelphia's City Council, said attracting and retaining police officers is paramount to safety.

"Right now, police don't want to work for our city," Oh said. "They are leaving, they are taking early retirement, not staying in our city," Oh said. 

If elected, Oh hopes to hire 1,400 new police officers and mandate specific training to avoid tragedies like the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry last August.

Oh believes part of keeping Philly's streets safe involves cleaning up widespread and brazen drug use that has made Kensington the epicenter of the opiod epidemic.

"There will no longer be open-air drug dealing, no longer be people purchasing drugs in front of police, no ability to go through a neighborhood and make it a lawless place," Oh said.

The Philadelphia 76ers proposed arena in Center City was among the hot-button issues that Oh discussed with Cole in an interview that will be aired on Nov. 3.

Oh called the Sixers' proposal "suspect" that could damage communities along Market Street East, like Chinatown who has come out in fierce opposition of the arena.

"It's suspect, I'll say that, in other words: You're announcing way early about something happening years later – no drawings, no proofs or evidence of what you need," Oh said.

Oh has his work cut out for him to convince a city that historically leans heavily to the left to switch its allegiance. FOX 29 plans to interview Oh's Democratic counterpart, Cherelle Parker, before election day.