Philly Plain Dealer

Philadelphia has had a negative reputation as a violent place for quite some time. Unfortunately there was some validity to this negative reputation as gun violence steadily rose from 2016 to 2019 then ballooned in the 2020s. However from 2023 to 2024 – homicides dropped from 330 in 2023 to less than 200 in 2024, and currently in 2025 there have been 189 homicides in the city. For clarity, by this time in 2021 and 2022 Philadelphia had more than 400 homicides. All according to the Philadelphia Police Department. (As of 10/27/2025)

Not only are homicides down nearly 10% compared to last year’s year-to-date figure, violent crime is down 5.2% and property crime is down 8.3% compared to last year’s year-to-date figures.

This decrease in gun violence did not happen by happenstance. Groups like the Civic Coalition to Save Lives have been advocating for gun violence intervention methods and investing millions in gun violence prevention strategies. In the case of the Civic Coalition to Save Lives, they began in 2021 when homicides ballooned from the 350-range to nearly 500. Through the creation of hope, opportunity, and intervention, more than 100 potential shooters have put the gun down on a year to year basis. 

The Civic Coalition to Save Lives 2024 Impact Report lists more than seventeen partners ranging from hospitals to government agencies to advocacy groups that were integral in changing their procedures to address gun violence in Philly. These partners were all responsible for different parts of the gun violence prevention pie. Some were responsible for mental health care, others did job creation, and others did housing. 

On the reason for the decrease in gun violence Eric Marsh, the Director of Operations for the Philadelphia Center of Gun Violence Reporting told the Philly Plain Dealer “Well, I think there’s multiple factors, just like there are multiple factors that cause a rise in gun violence. I think we’ve seen a de-escalation of stress and trauma in communities post-George Floyd and post-pandemic, where there are a lot of people that are just kind of settling into a new normal. 

But more importantly, I think all of the CVI (Community Violence Intervention) efforts that we are happening, not just locally, but nationally, have created an environment where there are more resources and more opportunities for specifically young people to have alternatives, to acting out in violence, so not just jobs and job training and extracurricular activities, but there’s been a lot of conflict mediation programs that have happened.”

Violence prevention activist and artist Ant Brown said “Personally, I need to commend the City for giving a coordinated effort towards working with community organizations. A lot of community orgs who put in the work, doing boots on the ground work, got invested in and now are doing diversion work, financial literacy, mentorships, and help to returning citizens.” Ant Brown went on to list how the Philadelphia Police has “new technology” that helped decrease gun violence. Possibly referring to SHOTPOINT by the Databuoy Corporation which touts itself as “the fastest, most precise fully automated gunshot detection and localization platform.” Brown mentioned efforts by the District Attorney’s office in helping organizations get funding through the “Violence Prevention Grant Initiative where they use forfeiture funds to reinvest back to the community, and I’ve seen small orgs get some very important dollars to then scale their organization and make an impact.”  

Brown mentioned community organizations like As I Plant This Seed, the Culture Changing Christians, NOMO Foundation, Yeah Philly, and Men Who Care of Germantown adding “these are just some, of course there are many!”

In Philadelphia throughout 2020 and 2021 there were calls for structural change, not all were answered and nearly nothing was remedied, however the City of Philadelphia can proudly point to a 47% drop in annual gun violence deaths from 2021 to 2024 and say “that changed.” 

Eric Marsh spoke to the cultural shift away from drill rap and violent social media trends, stating “I think young people are smart, right?
I think young people have seen enough violence to know that repeating that behavior often leads to violence and death. And I think we need to give them credit for being able to choose differently.”

Governmental change, funding community organizations, a cultural shift, job creation, and some fancy police technology can all be pointed to as reasons for the decrease in gun violence. There is no way to prove what specifically stopped a potential shooter from shooting, but we can be thankful that something did.