The Good News About Philadelphia That Steve Keeley Won’t Tell You

Fox 29’s Steve Keeley reporting on crime in Philadelphia, where homicides and shootings are actually way down (Image via Fox 29 video, embedded below)

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The Good Philadelphia News Steve Keeley Won’t Tell You: Homicides Have Plummeted

I went way out on a limb back in April 2024 for our cover story “An Optimist’s Guide to Philadelphia.” With new leadership inside City Hall and at the Philadelphia Police Department and a much-prayed-for downtick in Philadelphia homicide numbers, I posited that Philadelphia isn’t nearly as dangerous as people like Fox 29’s Steve Keeley try to convince you that it is.

I pointed out — and, again, keep mind this was in April — that if the trend continued, we’d be on track for 270 homicides in Philadelphia in 2024, a drastic difference from the 562 homicides Philadelphia recorded in 2021. And if we did that, we’d have the lowest number of homicides that Philadelphia has seen the last decade.

Well, guess what? 2024 is officially behind us. And the Philadelphia Police Department has released its final stats for 2024.

According to that data, there were 269 homicides in Philadelphia in 2024. Yes, of course, 269 homicides too many. But if certain media outlets are so excited to share bad news with you (don’t you notice how they always save the human interest story until the last 40 seconds of their program but always lead with a body on the ground or a house engulfed in flames?), maybe they should consider talking about how things are getting better. 2024 saw the fewest homicides since 2014, when there were 248 homicides. And looking back over the six decades prior to 2014, there were only seven years (and all but one of them prior to 1980) when we hit a lower number of homicides than that which we recorded last year.

Now, I’ve been doing this long enough to know some of the immediate reactions I will get to this on social media and via email.

One of the most common responses to my reporting on how the homicide problem in Philadelphia is improving goes something like this: That’s because the mayor and her cronies are faking the homicide numbers and covering up murders wherever they can. Right. The mayor has entered into a conspiracy with the thousands of men and women that make up the Philadelphia police force to hide dead bodies. OK. Make sure you’re using heavy duty foil on that tin-foil hat.

The other response? Maybe — just maybe — homicides are down, but shootings are way, way up. For that statement to be true, it would have to mean that people shooting guns have become decidedly worse shots or that, ya know, the statement is just wrong. Let’s go to the data, shall we? Indeed, shootings as a whole are also down in Philadelphia, by more than 30 percent.

So maybe turn off the TV, delete your loathsome Citizen app, and go read a book in the park. Well, when it warms up a little bit. Meanwhile, you can read this piece in the Inquirer, which delves into just why our homicide numbers have spiked downward.

No, the Real Birds

New Jersey just decided to remove bald eagles and osprey from its list of endangered species. Alas, we just can’t seem to get those blasted Jersey Shore seagulls on the list. (No, the Alka-Seltzer thing doesn’t work.)

Thrift Store Finds

When that $10 painting you purchased at a small Glenside shop turns out to be a truly important piece of Philadelphia art history.

By the Numbers

1.8: Inches of snow recorded at Philadelphia International Airpot on Monday. Just 1.2 inches in Center City. Womp womp. But it sounds like we could be in for another snowstorm — or, perhaps, “snowstorm” — this weekend. To the Ack-a-me!

3.5 percent: Pay raise that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro just got. He’s one of the highest paid governors in the entire country. And why shouldn’t he be? I mean, he singlehandedly fixed I-95 in less time than it takes the Streets Department to fix a really big pothole. Hundreds of other Pennsylvania officials just got the same pay increase. And if you’re wondering when your raise is coming, well, just keep wondering.

35 feet: Distance from the shoreline of a South Jersey creek where first responders found a woman and her dogs struggling to get out yesterday. No, she’s not one of the Icewomen of South Jersey. She decided to walk out onto the “frozen” creek before discovering it wasn’t really frozen. Keep in mind that it wasn’t that long ago that Philly saw highs in the 60s. Never walk out onto a body of “frozen” water unless you know what you’re doing.

Local Talent

Congrats to Abbott Elementary co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph! She’s about to get her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Also receiving a star, albeit posthumously: Carl Weathers, who had recurring roles as Apollo Creed in some of the Rocky movies until the giant Russian guy killed him. Sorry for the spoiler. It’s probably no coincidence that the guy who played said giant Russian has been hawking “Phillys” for some chain of late.