With America’s 250th birthday coming up, I am thankful to celebrate in Philadelphia, the birthplace of our nation. In this city, Thomas Jefferson wrote the famous creed, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which became a rally cry for millions of people yearning for freedom, and a torch to be carried forward by future generations symbolizing the American spirit of liberty. And yet as America has grown there are those who wish to extinguish America’s brightness.
This year, Philadelphia has taken center stage as millions of visitors arrive for America 250 celebrations and the FIFA World Cup. Recognizing the significance of these events, federal authorities have increased security efforts after a law enforcement memo identified Philadelphia as a potential “soft target.”
But that raises an uncomfortable question: if extraordinary measures are needed to make visitors feel safe for a few weeks, what about the people who live here every day?
I cannot help but wonder what our Founding Fathers would think if they were to walk the streets of Philadelphia today.
I don’t think they imagined a government that would fail to protect its citizens’ most basic right to life. Before anyone can pursue happiness, they need to feel safe inside their homes, and in their neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces.
When you watch the evening news in Philadelphia, the headlines are often focused on the violence that plagues our great city. Murders, carjackings, armed robberies, and shootings have become all too common.
Just weeks ago, 28-year-old pizza delivery driver Anshul Kuncha was lured to a vacant apartment in North Philadelphia with a fake delivery order. The delivery appeared to be a routine stop, but ended in a senseless tragedy. According to police, surveillance footage showed individuals following him before he was shot in the head after delivering the pizza.
That same weekend, 22-year-old Penn State student Billy Schmidt was shot and killed steps from his family’s South Philadelphia home. Billy was heading into his senior year studying digital journalism and media at Penn State. According to his father, “He was a great kid, he never had a problem with anyone, he was just respectful.”
Whether a delivery driver, college student, or a mother running errands, victims can come from different backgrounds. What they had in common was that they deserved better. The American Dream belongs equally to everyone and every person deserves the opportunity to pursue that dream in safety, and every victim deserves justice that holds violent offenders accountable.
Many Philadelphians feel that arrests are only part of the solution. They see a system that too often appears to favor violent offenders over victims and their families. This criticism has been directed at Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and his lenient approach to public safety.
In 2022, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives impeached Krasner by a vote of 107-85, arguing that his decisions played a role in rising crime and public safety concerns. The effort ultimately failed when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the impeachment articles became null and void after the legislative session ended.
Regardless of where one stands politically, recent tragedies remind us that public safety is one of the government’s most important responsibilities.
Statistics matter, and city leaders are right to celebrate reductions in crime when they occur. But statistics never tell the full story. Behind every homicide number is a real person, a grieving family, an empty seat at the dinner table, and a community left searching for answers.
The city where American independence was born should also be a place where residents feel safe raising a family, opening a business, walking to work, or simply coming home at night. Public safety is the foundation upon which all other freedoms depend.
As Philadelphia prepares to host the nation’s 250th birthday celebration and welcome visitors from around the world for the FIFA World Cup, city leaders must ask a simple question: if many longtime residents do not feel safe in their own neighborhoods, how can we expect visitors to feel any different?
