Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Crime in Philadelphia

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Homicide
  
15.9

Robbery
  
447.2

Total violent crime
  
1021.4

Forcible rape
  
77.4

Aggravated assault
  
481.1

Burglary
  
621.8

Charles Ramsey, the police commissioner, has stated his goal to reduce the number of homicides by 100 per year.

Contents

The legal entities responsible for maintaining law and order are:

  • The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) is the police department.
  • The Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (1st Judicial Circuit) is the state trial court.
  • The Philadelphia District Attorney is the district attorney.
  • The Defender Association of Philadelphia is the government-funded independent public defender office.

    • Notable cases and incidents

  • The Schuylkill Rangers - (mid-1800s) criminal gang - see Jimmy Haggerty
  • Willie Sutton "The Robin Hood of Brooklyn" (1930-50's) - Robbed most Philadelphia Banks, some twice, captured and tunneled out of Eastern State Penitentiary was recaptured and sent to Holmesburg Prison which he subsequently escaped from by ladder.
  • Philadelphia Poison Ring (1938) - At least 70 people poisoned with arsenic, several by their wives.
  • Marie Noe (1949–1968) - Murdered eight of her children.
  • Boy in the Box (1957) - Unidentified five-year-old boy found dead in a cardboard box.
  • Dolores Della Penna – 1972 abduction and dismemberment of Tacony teenager remains unsolved.
  • Carl Gugasian - "The Friday Night Bank Robber" (1972-2002) - Perhaps the most successful in American history - robbed banks up and down the east coast.
  • Ira Einhorn, "The Unicorn Killer" (1977) - Popular counterculture figure killed his girlfriend and hid her body in his closet.
  • Ed Savitz (1975-1992) - Sexual predator thought to have abused hundreds of teenage boys.
  • Mumia Abu-Jamal (1981) - Convicted for the murder of PPD officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981.
  • MOVE (1978,1985) - Activist group which clashed with the PPD.
  • Frankford Slasher (1985–1990) - Thought to have killed several women. Never caught, though a prime suspect was known to police.
  • Gary M. Heidnik (1986–1987) - Kidnapped, imprisoned, raped, and tortured six women, two of whom he murdered.
  • Harrison Graham (1986–1987) - Killed seven women.
  • Raymond Carter (convict) (1988) - Convicted of killing Robert "Puppet" Harris; verdict overturned in 1996 due to likelihood of false testimony.
  • 39th District corruption scandal (1990s) - Police corruption which led to the overturning of 160-300 cases and release of 100 prisoners.
  • Lex Street Massacre (Dec. 28th, 2000)- 7 people were murdered in a crack house.
  • Kidnapping and murder of Iriana DeJesus (2000) - Alexis Flores, suspect of the case, was added to FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2007.
  • Officer Thomas Bray's possible murder (November 13, 2001) - Bray died in a suspicious on-duty scuba diving incident the day after he testified against Sergeant Shawn Dougherty at a disciplinary hearing. Bray's estate and mother, Genevieve, sued the city and federal government in federal court over Bray's death, settling for an amount that could not be determined from a summary Internet search.
  • City Hall corruption scandal (2003-5) - mayor's office bugged by FBI, several convictions resulting.
  • Antonio Rodriguez (late 2010-early 2011). Known as the Kensington Strangler, he murdered three women.
  • Fairmount Park Rapist. (2003–2007) Raped at least three women and murdered medical student Rebecca Park. Not caught.
  • Philadelphia basement kidnapping, October 2011, an ongoing investigation into alleged kidnapping of four mentally disabled adults, who were held in a Northeast Philadelphia basement.

    • Homicides

    Annual murder and nonnegligent manslaughter

    Riots

  • Philadelphia Election Riot (1742)
  • Lombard Street Riot (1842) - Three day race riot.
  • Philadelphia Nativist Riots (1844)
  • Philadelphia 1964 race riot (1964)

    • Organized crime

  • Philadelphia crime family - An Italian American group based in South Philadelphia as well as cities in New Jersey such as Atlantic City and Newark; largest organized crime unit in the area.
  • Irish Mob - K&A Gang - Based in Kensington, Philadelphia. One of the largest Irish American gangs in the country.
  • Jewish Mafia - See Nig Rosen.
  • Greek Mob
  • Russian Mob - See Semion Mogilevich & YBM Magnex International Inc.
  • Kielbasa Posse - A Polish group based in Port Richmond, Philadelphia.
  • Jamaican Posse
  • Black Mafia and Junior Black Mafia - An African-American group based in West Philadelphia.
  • Latin Kings - Hispanic gang originating in Chicago.
  • Warlocks Motorcycle Club - A motorcycle club involved in drug dealing
  • Pagans MC - A motorcycle club involved in drug dealing.
  • The Breed Motorcycle Club - A motorcycle club involved in drug dealing.
  • Sex Money Murda

    • Documentaries

  • Law and Disorder in Philadelphia, 2008

    • References

    Crime in Philadelphia Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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