Philly mayoral candidates say they’ll declare a crime emergency. What would that really do?

The impact of an emergency declaration is defined by the mayor who implements it, and several say they’d use the measure to ensure the full weight of the government is behind tackling shootings.

Nine Democrats are vying to replace Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, and nearly all of them have said they will do one thing he would not: Declare gun violence a citywide emergency.

But it remains to be seen what such a declaration would do.

Federal and state officials have long declared states of emergency to unlock new funding and mobilize response teams after natural disasters or civil unrest. But in Philadelphia, emergency declarations at the local level do not automatically lead to new dollars or personnel.

That means the impact of such a declaration would largely be defined by the mayor who implements it, and several candidates say they would use the measure to ensure the full weight of the government is behind tackling shootings.

“The goal would be to activate all the departments to stabilize our communities so that people could feel safe,” said Rebecca Rhynhart, a mayoral candidate who as city controller pressed Kenney to declare an emergency, to no avail.

Emergency declarations have been part of a political playbook for years, and elected officials have used them at times to signal that a chronic problem has become imminently dangerous. Last month, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency over homelessness.

And they have been used in Philadelphia before. In 2008, Mayor Michael Nutter’s first action in office was signing an executive order declaring a citywide “crime emergency” that directed the police commissioner to develop a public safety plan in consultation with other department heads.

Kenney used an executive order to declare an “opioid emergency” in the city’s Kensington neighborhood in 2018, creating an opioid response team and compelling city agencies to designate personnel to advise it.

Erica Atwood, the city’s senior director for criminal justice and public safety, said the administration determined that declaring a citywide emergency on gun violence would not have changed its response to the crisis. She said daily, cross-department meetings about crime were already taking place.

If the governor declared a state of emergency — as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo did in 2021 — it could unlock more funding and programs, Atwood said, and the administration would have supported it.

But on a city level, the declaration is “ceremonial at best,” she said, and could give residents in the most vulnerable neighborhoods a false sense of hope or security.

What an emergency declaration would do

Most of the candidates running for mayor have said they would declare an emergency on gun violence, but the semantics vary by candidate — and matter in terms of the impact.

Under the city code, a “state of emergency” can be temporarily declared if a mayor finds that the city or a part of it is in imminent danger. The declaration allows a mayor to unilaterally take steps to alleviate the threat, like establishing a curfew or halting travel into the city.

A mayor could also issue an executive order declaring, for example, a “crime emergency” or a “citywide emergency,” which isn’t a specific provision in the code. The directives under such an order would be entirely up to the mayor.

Rhynhart said her executive order would declare a “citywide emergency” and activate the emergency operations center, which in the past has been used by agencies across the government during natural disasters or major events.

Former Councilmember Helen Gym said an emergency declaration under her administration would require a weekly cabinet meeting among city agency heads, and it would compel outreach to leaders outside municipal government, like those in federal law enforcement and the School District.

She said her cabinet would focus on taking illegal guns off the street, intervening with people taking part in violence, and supporting victims.

“My approach toward a state of emergency is not simply to ring an alarm bell that everybody knows is already off,” Gym said. “It’s to really drive that coordination, focus, vision, and accountability.”

Former Councilmember Cherelle Parker, who is running for mayor on a plan to hire hundreds of new police officers, similarly said that while she would issue an emergency declaration, it isn’t a panacea.

“These people committing violent crimes, they don’t give a damn about the mayor calling a state of emergency,” she said. “It is an effort to inform the public, but it is only the first step.”

And Allan Domb, also a former Council member, said in addition to declaring a citywide crime emergency that creates a “public safety cabinet,” he would call for a state of emergency in Kensington. He said he woild push to establish a “special services district” to lure business to the area, a move that he said would “restore the whole neighborhood.”

‘We just can’t be about words anymore’

Gun-violence prevention advocates roundly said they would support any action that brings more resources to combating gun violence in the city, but some were skeptical of the candidates’ intentions.

Anton Moore, founder of Unity in the Community, a nonprofit that supports South Philadelphia families, worried that residents may hear the phrase state of emergency and imagine a large-scale response, like the arrival of the National Guard.

And if an emergency declaration is made and nothing changes, he said, communities could lose more trust in local leaders.

“We just can’t be about words anymore,” he said.

Kendra Van de Water, cofounder of YEAH Philly, which works with young people affected by the criminal-justice system, recalled the way the city coordinated resources and emergency housing for buses of migrants arriving from Texas. She said an emergency declaration must bring that level of coordination to Philadelphia neighborhoods.

“People are losing their lives,” she said. “This is not a political game.”

Roz Pichardo, a Kensington resident and founder of the group Operation Save Our City, was also pessimistic, saying of the candidates, “They’re blowing hot air.”

Pichardo, who has lost three loved ones to gun violence, recalled the opioid emergency order Kenney signed in 2018. The effort, dubbed the Resilience Project, ordered 35 city agencies to launch a coordinated effort against the crisis, with its main goals being to reduce crime rates, homelessness, overdoses, and the spread of infectious diseases.

New street lights and cameras were installed, safety corridors were created for children traveling to and from school, and neighborhood cleanups were organized. But little changed in the long run, Pichardo said. Shootings continue at an unrelenting pace, and the open-air drug market is thriving.

“All they did was put a Band-Aid on things,” she said. “Take the Band-Aid off, and the wound is still there.”