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Philadelphia officials are looking for solutions for homeless population on streets
FOX 29's Marcus Espinoza reports on Philadelphia officials looking for solutions for the increasing homeless populations in the city during the coronavirus pandemic.
PHILADELPHIA - As Philly remains under a stay-at-home order those without a place to call their own have remained on the streets but has the actual number increased?
“I think a lot of times you see more homeless on the street now because there’s less other people in the street," Mayor Jim Kenney said.
Even so, hundreds of homeless are currently taking refuge at the Philadelphia International Airport. They are set to be moved somewhere else Friday morning,.
“We are planning to move those individuals to shelter and we are in discussion with the advocates on timing and considering taking their concerns under consideration," Managing Director Brian Abernathy said.
Police presence in Center City and Old City has been reduced, especially at night, according to Abernathy.
“We’re deploying where crime is to the mayor's point. It’s not gonna be like a Friday Saturday night like it was and we’re not going to deploy like it was before things shut down because we had thousands of people in bars and restaurants in Old City so you had pretty significant deployment, so we’re now deployed like it’s a neighborhood." he said.
He also pointed out that he still believes those areas of the city are still being protected though he understands the public concern for safety.
“There is absolutely concerns and those concerns are valid we’ve heard them in Center City we have ongoing and severe concerns in Kensington and obviously we’ve talked about the airport," he added.
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