Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson (Second District) has announced nearly two dozen new members of the Council’s Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention. The committee will continue its urgent work toward implementing effective prevention strategies to create safer environments that enable individuals and communities to thrive, ultimately improving overall public health and quality of life.
“Gun violence is a longstanding and devastating problem in Philadelphia and across the nation,” President Johnson said. “Public safety is the cornerstone of a thriving society, as it underpins all social goods, including health, education, and community cohesion. Addressing gun violence is crucial not only for protecting lives but also for fostering community stability and resilience.”
“I want to thank all of the members of this newest version of the Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention for agreeing to serve on the committee,” Johnson continued. “Their commitment to our community and experience make them ideal fits for this critical role, and their participation will be invaluable as we work to address the persistent issue of gun violence in our city. The Special Committee will continue to put our foot on the gas and put even more effort and determination toward reducing gun violence in our city.”
The 24 members of the Council’s Special Committee on Gun Violence are as follows:
- Council President Kenyatta Johnson (Chair)
- Councilmember Curtis Jones, Jr. (4th District)
- Councilmember Cindy Bass (8th District)
- Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (3rd District)
- Councilmember Jeffrey Young, Jr. (5th District)
- Councilmember Nina Ahmad (At Large)
- Adam Geer, Chief Public Safety Director, Office of Public Safety
- Adara L. Combs, Esq., Executive Director & Appointed Victim Advocate, Philadelphia Office of the Victim Advocate
- Dr. Marquita Williams, Interim Commissioner, City of Philadelphia, Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS)
- Assata Thomas, Executive Director, Office of Reentry Partnerships
- Keisha Hudson, Chief Defender, Defender Association of Philadelphia
- Shania Bennet, Director, Mayor’s Office of Youth Engagement
- Bennie Price, Deputy Chief of Philadelphia Juvenile Probation, First Judicial District
- William Fritze, Assistant District Attorney, Chief of the District Attorney’s Office’s Gun Violence Task Force.
- Dr. Dorothy Johnson-Speight, Ph.D., Founder/National Executive Director of Mothers In Charge, Inc.
- Stanley Crawford, Founder, President & CEO, Black Male Community Council of Philadelphia
- Rickey Duncan, CEO & Founder, NOMO Foundation
- Stanton B. Miller, MD, MPH, FACS, Executive Director, Jefferson Center for Injury Research and Prevention, and Representative of Philadelphia College of Physicians
- Adam Garber, Executive Director, Ceasefire PA
- Jaime (Jalil) Meekins, Community Engagement and Communications Manager, Pushing Progress Philly (P3)
- Chantay Love, Co-Founder & CEO, EMIR Healing Center
- Chief Charles Lawson, Chief of Police, SEPTA
- Archbishop Mary Floyd Palmer, Presiding Archbishop and President, Philadelphia Council of Clergy, Inc.
- First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford, Philadelphia Police Department
Holdovers from the original Special Committee on Gun Violence include Council President Johnson, Councilmember Jones, Johnson-Speight, and Price. Johnson has chaired the Special Committee since its first meeting in July 2017.
The mission of the Special Committee is to address this crisis by facilitating coordination among stakeholders and formulating a comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy. Although there are numerous existing efforts in Philadelphia, there continues to be a need for a unified approach, emphasizing that sustained collaboration across sectors —including law enforcement, public health, education, social services, advocacy, and community organizing — is essential for meaningful progress.
In June 2017, former Council President Darrell L. Clarke and then-Councilmember Johnson and Councilmember Curtis Jones, Jr. (4th District) introduced Resolution #170609 that created the original Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention.
The Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention isn’t a permanent part of the City Council, so it doesn’t automatically continue when a new Council body takes office. However, the Council’s rules say that a special committee from the previous term can keep going if the Council President believes its work wasn’t finished.
When Johnson became Council President in January 2024, he wanted to update the duties and mission/direction of the Special Committee so Council approved Resolution #240938, introduced by Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (3rd District) on behalf of Johnson, in October 2024 reauthorizing the Special Committee so it can keep doing its important work.
The work of the Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention in the past has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars being invested in the City’s Operating budgets under former Mayor Jim Kenney and current Mayor Cherelle L. Parker that have been given to grassroots anti-violence organizations and played an important role in helping reduce the number of shootings and homicides in recent years. Those investments are expected to continue in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which goes into effect on July 1.
According to Philadelphia Police Department statistics, 562 homicides took place in Philadelphia in 2021. In 2024, the homicide rate that year was 269. So far, in 2025 (as of May 12), Philadelphia has recorded 74 homicides, a 21 percent decrease compared to the same time in 2024. The total number of shooting victims and shooting incidents is down compared to the same time last year.
As a result of requests made by the families of victims of gun violence victims to the Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention, Johnson sponsored legislation that was approved by the Council and voters in 2020, creating the Office of Philadelphia Victim Advocate (OVA). Since the OVA started operation in 2022, it has guaranteed that crime victims in Philadelphia have the support they need to regain a sense of normalcy in their lives and that victims and co-victims always have a voice within the City government.
The OVA provides coordination, strategic planning, and service provision oversight for victims, co-victims, and survivors of crime, with a special emphasis on gun violence and homicide. Some of the achievements shared by OVA include, but are not limited to:
- Launching a comprehensive relocation program providing a continuum of care focused on supporting victims, co-victims, and their families in identifying housing where they can continue their lives after a violent incident in relative safety.
- Successfully piloting a publicly funded, first of its kind in the nation, crime scene cleanup program in the 24th, 25th, 26th, 12th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 9th, 22nd, and Center City Districts.
The Special Committee’s duties shall include, but not be confined to: holding public hearings and convening regular meetings for planning; examining the efficacy of current programs and policies, identifying local and national best practices, engaging community leaders; increasing capacity for data collection and analysis; developing metrics to measure progress toward strategic goals; reviewing allocation of City of Philadelphia resources to ensure optimization of results; and soliciting public input.
