The panel of speakers during the town hall as listed in the article. (Photo: Pryce Jamison)

City officials, state representatives, and community members gathered at the Lonnie Young Recreation Center for State Representative Andre Carroll’s Safety Town Hall, where they discussed the recent shootings at local recreation centers and the future of prioritizing safety in the neighborhood.

Two weeks ago, two shootings occurred in the community that sparked the meeting; One being on March 29 at Mt. Airy’s Finley recreation center, where two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old were hit, and the other being on April 1 at Lonnie Young, where there was an 18-year-old victim. There were no fatalities in these incidents.

These shootings come at a time when the 14th district has seen record drops in violence throughout the past year. According to the Independent Variable Data Dashboard, which pulls gun violence statistics from the Philadelphia Police Department, there has been a 33% drop in shooting victims throughout the 14th District when comparing incidents from April 2023 to April 2024 with incidents from April 2024 to April 2025.

Rep. Carroll opened up the town hall by clarifying that the meeting’s purpose was to “provide updates and share some of the things that we’re doing as elected officials and community leaders to keep our young people safe.”

“The summer’s coming up, and in the summertime, we see a spike in violence. We don’t want to run from that, we want to address that now,” Carroll said. “Recreation centers and schools are supposed to be safe places.”

Moderated by Carroll, the panel of speakers sitting in front of the eager audience consisted of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Senator Art Haywood, Senator Sharif Street, 14th District Police Captain Stuart McCollum, Department of Parks and Recreation Commissioner Susan Slawson, Director of Community Engagement in the District Attorney’s Office G. Lamar Stewart, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, and the Executive Director of the Office of Safe Neighborhoods Shondell Revell.

Many organizations that take part in community outreach to reduce rates of gun violence among young people and address its impact were also in attendance, such as the Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network (PAAN), Men Who Care of Germantown, Pushing Progress Philly, and EMIR Healing Center.

“This is our fight, it’s not just the police department’s fight, it’s not just the councilmember’s fight, it’s not just the senator’s, this is our fight to keep your young people safe,” Susan Slawson said. “You’ll [start to] see police coming to these recreation centers and running programs alongside our rec leaders.”

According to Capt. McCollum, the offender of the Lonnie Young shooting, has been apprehended and doesn’t actually live in the neighborhood. He is working closely with community and rec center leaders to prevent potential violence going forward.

“This time last year, there were incidents of violence that occurred in and around recreation centers. We had quite a bit of meetings concerning the safety of our rec centers,” McCollum said. “I created a plan, and we didn’t have any incidents for the remainder of the year.”

Now, McCollum and the 14th District are trying to replicate and expand on this model throughout 2025.

“I’ve increased patrols in this area, at all 10 recreation centers that I have,” he said. “Not only do we check inside the facilities, but we check outside the facilities because we know there’s quite a bit of sporting events in the spring and summer.”

McCollum also noted that a vital aspect from last year, which will be carried forward, is maintaining constant communication with rec center leaders and community members to facilitate preventive measures. He pointed to last year’s example of how there were over 11 flash mob events planned at four recreation centers, which the police received intel about and ultimately helped put a stop to them.

“We were able to deploy officers in the area to prevent each of those from occurring. That was because of information I got from you all, so we have to constantly remain in communication with one another,” he added. “A lot of these things we absolutely can prevent.”

McCollum also said that they’re currently using technological solutions with surveillance cameras.

“A lot of these kids don’t have good conflict resolution skills, and this is where you all come in, they may not listen to me, but they’ll listen to you,” McCollum exclaimed. “You’re a part of the community like I’m part of the community, and we have to work together because these kids are our future.”

The Director at the rec center, Damon Cunningham, reportedly ran outside to help the injured 18-year-old who was shot on April 1.

“What he did was critical to make sure that there wasn’t a fatality that night,” Councilwoman Bass said.

Bass discussed ideas for the near future that aim to keep recreation centers as safe spaces where kids can interact with people they can look up to, saying that “we have worked hard to put together a plan to address violence in our recreation centers.”

Bass is implementing her Playing it Safe in the 8th protective plan, addressing areas of focus at local rec centers such as site-specific safety strategies, facility improvements, funding and program activation, on-site presence of community leaders, and law enforcement conducting community outreach and engagement.

“We know there’s going to be young people here, and arguments will be had. There’s some boots on the ground that’ll step in and have a presence here,” Bass said. “At the time they see something happening, they can engage at that moment to make sure people know that there are folks here that care and [that will] pull people to the side and talk.”

Bass emphasized that PAAN, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing drug abuse and violence amongst youth and families, will be the boots on the ground who are available for local youth to communicate with before resorting to violence.

“They are going to be working closely with our rec center leaders, our police department, and the department of parks and recreation,” she added. “We want people to know that when you come to our rec centers and our playgrounds, there’s going to be people that you can feel safe sending your children to.”

Slawson emphasized how much the Department of Parks and Recreation is trying to grant young people opportunities to stay productive as the weather gets warmer.

“We have opportunities for young people to work throughout the summer while they’re not in school, the city has 8,000 opportunities this summer,” She said. “We are looking for young people to fill jobs in Parks and Recreation. If you know young people, send them to your rec centers. We want to help them get off the streets.”

As the neighborhood has been an area that hasn’t sustained much gun violence in the past year, Slawson reminded everyone of the efforts of law enforcement and to think about the alternative options that can help young people avoid trouble.

“The police have put an amazing dent in crime; shootings are 37% lower than last year, so the crime is being addressed,” Susan said. “But it’s because we’re all working together. We need you all to be our eyes and ears.”

“If you see your young people are having challenges, please call 211 if you don’t want to call 911. There are so many different alternatives we’re trying to provide to help our young people. They’re living in a challenging time, and it’s our responsibility as adults to step in and help,” Slawson said.