Crime in Philadelphia

Last updated

Philadelphia consistently ranks above the national average in terms of crime, especially violent offenses. It has the highest violent crime rate of the Top 10 American cities with a population greater than 1 million residents as well as the highest poverty rate among these cities. It has been included in real estate analytics company NeighborhoodScout's "Top 100 Most Dangerous Cities in America" list every year since it has been compiled. Much of the crime is concentrated in the North, West, and Southwest sections of the city. The deadliest year in Philadelphia was 2021 with 562 murders.

Contents

Philadelphia
Crime rates* (2014)
Violent crimes
Homicide 15.9
Rape 77.4**
Robbery 447.2
Aggravated assault 481.1
Total violent crime 1021.4
Property crimes
Burglary 621.8
Larceny-theft 2398.5
Motor vehicle theft 367.4
Arson 25.6
Total property crime 3387.7
Notes

*Number of reported crimes per 100,000 population.

** Revised definition [1]

Source: FBI 2014 UCR data

The legal entities responsible for maintaining law and order are:

Notable cases and incidents

Homicides

Year198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Homicides (city, number) [6] 377402427460489500450423437400433412409340335325309288348330375406391331302306326331246248280277315351356499562516408
Homicides (city, rate) [7] 44.343.541.644.342.641.737.535.236.433.336.834.334.825.829.426.520.418.923.322.225.627.727.323.019.519.621.221.515.915.917.917.421.122.222.731.835.032.926.0
Homicides (US, rate) [8] 11.712.910.411.110.810.59.28.79.08.29.27.67.56.06.15.95.65.65.75.55.75.85.75.45.04.84.74.74.54.44.95.35.34.25.16.36.96.3

References: [9] [10]

Organized crime

Documentaries

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Street</span> Former mayor of Philadelphia

John Franklin Street is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. He was first elected to a term beginning on January 3, 2000, and was re-elected to a second term beginning in 2004. He is a Democrat and became mayor after having served 19 years in the Philadelphia City Council, including seven years as its president, before resigning as required under the Philadelphia City Charter in order to run for mayor. He followed Ed Rendell as mayor, assuming the post on January 3, 2000. Street was Philadelphia's second black mayor.

The Bufalino crime family, also known as the Pittston crime family, the Scranton Wilkes-Barre crime family, the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Mafia, or the Scranton Mafia, was an Italian-American Mafia crime family active in Northeastern Pennsylvania, primarily in the cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Pittston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia Police Department</span> Police agency in Philadelphia, US

The Philadelphia Police Department is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the County and City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, fourth-largest police force and sixth-largest non-federal law enforcement agency in the United States. Since records were first kept in 1828, at least 289 PPD officers have died in the line of duty.

The Black Mafia, also known as the Philadelphia Black Mafia (PBM), Black Muslim Mafia and Muslim Mob, was a Philadelphia-based African-American organized crime syndicate. The organization began in the 1960s as a relatively small criminal collective in South Philadelphia, known for holding up neighborhood crap games and dealing in the illegal drug business, but at its height of operation in the early 1970s until about the early 1980s, it managed to consolidate power and control a large portion of criminal activity in various African-American neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, including South Jersey, Chester, and Wilmington. In addition to drug trafficking, burglary, and armed robbery, the Black Mafia was also engaged in traditional organized crime activities such as political corruption, extortion, racketeering, prostitution, loansharking, number running, and other illegal gambling rackets.

The Irish Mob is a usually crime family–based ethnic collective of organized crime syndicates composed of primarily ethnic Irish members which operate primarily in Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, and have been in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish-American street gangs – famously first depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1927 book, The Gangs of New York – the Irish Mob has appeared in most major U.S. and Canadian cities, especially in the Northeast and the urban industrial Midwest, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organized crime in Italy</span> Prevalent criminal organizations and activities in Italy

Criminal organizations have been prevalent in Italy, especially in the southern part of the country, for centuries and have affected the social and economic life of many Italian regions. There are major native mafia-like organizations that are heavily active in Italy. The most powerful of these organizations are the Camorra from Campania, the 'Ndrangheta from Calabria and the Cosa Nostra from Sicily.

The 39th District Corruption Scandal refers to a persistent pattern of brutality and corruption among a cadre of Philadelphia Police Department officers, primarily from the Department's 39th District. The scandal emerged in late 1995 and received nationwide attention by 1997, eventually resulting in an investigation by Human Rights Watch. Hundreds of people were involved in the incidents that occurred in North Philadelphia in the early 1990s. Some individuals are notable due to their direct participation, and others for their participation in related events, particularly the legal proceedings of the conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal for the murder of Officer Daniel Faulkner.

Crime in Chicago has been tracked by the Chicago Police Department's Bureau of Records since the beginning of the 20th century.

Major Benjamin Coxson, also known as The Maj, was an American gangster from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Coxson was a flamboyant entrepreneur and civil rights activist who co-owned a Philadelphia nightclub with activist Stanley Branche, was close friends and neighbor to Muhammad Ali, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Camden, New Jersey in 1972. Coxson was a powerful drug dealer and power broker in Philadelphia who served as an intermediary between African-American and Italian-American organized crime groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gangs in the United States</span> US criminal groups or organizations

Approximately 1.4 million people in the United States were part of gangs as of 2011, and more than 33,000 gangs were active in the country. These include national street gangs, local street gangs, prison gangs, outlaw motorcycle clubs, and ethnic and organized crime gangs.

Crime in Omaha, Nebraska has varied widely, ranging from Omaha's early years as a frontier town with typically widespread gambling and prostitution, to civic expectation of higher standards as the city grew, and contemporary concerns about violent crimes related to gangs and dysfunctions of persistent unemployment, poverty and lack of education among some residents.

Crime in Los Angeles has varied throughout time, reaching peaks between the 1970s and 1990s. Since the early 2020s, crime has increased in Los Angeles.

The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Bruno–Scarfo crime family, the Philadelphia–Atlantic City crime family, the Philadelphia Mafia, the Philly Mafia, or the Philadelphia–South Jersey Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed and based in South Philadelphia, the criminal organization primarily operates in Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area, including South Jersey. The family is notorious for its violence, its succession of violent bosses, and multiple mob wars.

The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group.

In 2010, a number of events took place in organized crime. On the first day of the year, reporter Jose Luis Romero was kidnapped for reporting on the Mexican Mafia. While investigating the kidnapping, policeman Jesus Escalante was killed. The Mexican Drug War is an armed conflict taking place between rival drug cartels and government forces in Mexico. Mexican drug cartels, or drug trafficking organizations, have become more powerful since the demise of Colombia's Cali and Medellín cartels in the 1990s. Mexican drug cartels now dominate the illicit drug market in the United States. Arrests of key cartel leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, have led to increasing drug violence as cartels fight for control of the trafficking routes into the United States.

Crime in California refers to crime occurring within the U.S. state of California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warlocks Motorcycle Club (Pennsylvania)</span> Outlaw motorcycle club in the United States

The Warlocks Motorcycle Club, also distinguished as the Harpy Warlocks or the Philly Warlocks, is an American outlaw motorcycle club that was formed in Philadelphia in 1967. The club is most prominent in the Delaware Valley, including Philadelphia, Delaware County and South Jersey, as well as in the nearby Lehigh Valley.

The American city of Baltimore, Maryland, is notorious for its crime rate, which ranks well above the national average. Violent crime spiked in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray on April 19, 2015, which touched off riots and an increase in murders. The city recorded 348 homicides in 2019, a number second only to the number recorded in 1993 when the population was nearly 125,000 higher.

The 10th & Oregon Crew, also known as the 10th & O Crew, the 10th & Oregon Gang or the 10th & O Gang, is a predominantly Italian-American organized crime gang operating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Active since the 1960s, the gang is associated closely with but independent from the Italian-American Philadelphia crime family. The 10th & Oregon Crew is primarily active in South Philadelphia and certain working-class Italian-American neighborhoods in nearby South Jersey.

References

  1. "FBI".
  2. A 1982 murder, a capital sentence, two escapes and now, a reprieve from death row
  3. "West Philadelphia Collaborative History - MOVE".
  4. "Telling the tragedy | Lifestyles Profile | News | South Philly Review". www.southphillyreview.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16.
  5. U.S. Bug in Mayor's Office Roils Philadelphia Race
  6. "Crime rate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA)" . Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  7. "Crime rate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA)" . Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  8. "Crime rate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA)" . Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  9. "Murder rate falls 6 percent nationally: FBI". The Hill. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  10. "Mapping Philadelphia's Gun Violence Crisis". Controller PHILA. Retrieved 1 January 2024.

Further reading