Philadelphians are more pessimistic than they have been in over a decade

PHILADELPHIA CREAM – A new poll from the Pew Research Center has found that Philadelphians are the most pessimistic they have been in more than a decade.

Researchers found that 63% of respondents think Philadelphia is on the wrong track, with gun violence receiving the lion’s share of the blame.

According to the latest data from the Philadelphia Police Department, there have been 127 homicides in the city this year, surpassing a historically bloody 2021.

“A lot of evidence that crime has increased, and it’s making people very frustrated, very scared, and very unsure of what to do about it,” said Heather Hansen, attorney and CEO of Advocate To Win.

She believes the COVID-19 pandemic has moved people away from societal norms of behaving with courtesy, as evidenced by a spike in violence in hospitals and airplanes.

“A lot of it is because we’ve forgotten how to be patient, how to wait, how to interact in public,” Hansen said.

Philadelphians exhausted and scared by the constant threat of violence, drugs and other street crime would like to see more police, the poll found.

“I’m just worried,” said Jeff Benson, who has a daughter who lives in Philadelphia. “I get the alerts that pop up on my phone in the morning, ’13 yr old shot dead’, it’s scary.”

8th District Councilwoman Cindy Bass called on Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration to provide a stronger plan to address the violence.

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