Gun Violence in Philadelphia Plummeted in 2024. What City of Birmingham Leaders Can Learn

By Carla Lewandowski and John A. Shjarback theconversation.com Gun-related homicides have dropped 40 percent in 2024 in the Philadelphia region, saving countless lives in the area. Meanwhile, gun-related homicides have soared in Birmingham. At last count, homicides in Birmingham were up more that 15 percent compared to the same time in 2023 and that was before a deadly September that included a mass shooting in Five Points South left four people dead, and 17 others wounded in the month. There have been five additional homicides since that mass shooting. Birmingham ended 2023 with 135 homicides. So far this year, through last month, a deadly shooting on Sept. 28 marked the city’s 127th homicide. Of those, eight have been ruled justifiable and two others happened in previous years, but the victims died in 2024. Philadelphia experienced a surge in shootings and homicides during the COVID-19 years that disproportionately affected young Black and Latino men in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods with drug markets. In 2020, Philadelphia had 499 homicides — nearly 150 more than the previous year. Gun violence worsened in 2021 — with 562 homicides that year — and then dropped slightly in 2022. In Philadelphia, recent data shows a notable decline...