Name: Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner discusses city's rising gun violence
Uploaded: 2022-03-19T15:36:15-04:00
Channel: Jeff Cole
Description: FOX 29's Jeff Cole sat down with District Attorney Larry Krasner to speak about the rising gun violence in Philadelphia.

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Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner discusses city's rising gun violence

FOX 29's Jeff Cole sat down with District Attorney Larry Krasner to speak about the rising gun violence in Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA - Cold weather is ending as spring begins, but the gun violence in the City of Philadelphia is far from seasonal.

The search continues for solutions, accountability and progress in the battle to save our streets.

FOX 29's Jeff Cole sat down with District Attorney Larry Krasner for a candid conversation about what his office is doing to address the rising gun violence and the responsibility to keep the streets safe.

The city has already seen more than 100 murders as residents turned to the police and prosecutors to get it under control.

"We are dealing with the worst spike in gun violence over the last two now almost two-and-a-half years that we have seen in a very very long time. I think it's awful," Krasner said. "I mean obviously every homicide is awful, but the numbers are very upsetting. It's the kind of thing that keeps us up at night."

When asked if he thought 2022 would be more deadly than 2021, which saw 560 homicides by the end of the year, Krasner was unsure.

"The truth is I don't know, but I will say this. From the beginning, what we have seen is that it was about 1.5 homicides per day in Philadelphia during the period of the pandemic," he said. Right now, we're very close to where we were last year. I mean the terrible news, we're close to where we were last year. The good news, we aren't twice as high.

Krasner, who was elected and reelected on the campaign platform of criminal justice reform, stands firm on his belief that funding prevention efforts will lower crime.

District Attorney Larry Krasner sat down with FOX 29 to discuss rising crime in Philadelphia.

He said it is "stupid" to spend tens of thousands of dollars putting homeless people in jail when the money could instead be used for public education and other issues.

On guns, Krasner argues making arrests for possession without a permit will not dramatically lower gun violence.

"The notion that the way you're going to solve shootings is arresting people for guns is missing the point," he said. "The way you solve shootings is arrest people for shootings. The way you solve homicides by gun is by solving homicides by gun."

Krasner argues on the gun cases brought to his office, his track record of prosecution is strong, but he believes guns flow like water in Philadelphia.

"For every gun that is taken off the street, according to data from the AG's office and also data from the PPD, there are either two or three more guns purchased legally in the same time period," he said.

Krasner also believes fear is a factor in why victims won't come forward to testify in court, saying the potential for intimidation is real.

He says his office used funds to relocate victims of crime, but after receiving even more funding it still remains a challenge.

"The average cost of relocation is usually something like $30,00 for what we do here," he said admitting that not many people can be moved to protect them from witness intimidation.

With rising crime and homicides, Krasner believes, education, improved housing and slowing evictions can be crime-fighting tools, but he is also battling the perception he is soft on crime.