Philadelphia's
Stop Snitching Crisis
| the muted
truth: Philadelphia's Stop Snitching Crisis |
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|
and featuring
Hon. Renee Cardwell-Hughes Judge of the Court of Common Pleas Daniel Cariño Youth Advocate, Congreso de Latinos Unidos Andre Chin Institute for the Development of African American Youth Darryl Coates Philadelphia Anti-Drug Anti-Violence Network Samuel George Stoneleigh Center Youth Fellow Everett Gillison Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Mark Gilson Assistant District Attorney George Mosee Deputy District Attorney, Juvenile Division James Randolph Deputy Commissioner, DHS Juvenile Justice Division |
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Friday, May 16th 10:00 a.m. at
the
Civic Space @
 6th
St. between Arch & Race Sts.
sponsored
by
United
Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania
 The Stoneleigh Center  Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia  |
This year, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania has been fortunate to work with Samuel George, a recent college graduate who has been named a Stoneleigh Fellow by the local Stoneleigh Center. In addition to other work with us on issues affecting the quality of life of young people in our region, Mr. George also shared with us a thesis he composed entitled The Commonwealth v. Dwayne Brown: The Roots and Consequences of the Code of Silence in Inner City Philadelphia. The thesis tracks the history behind the Code of Silence, as well as how witness reluctance plays out in Philadelphia’s courtrooms. The thesis was based on a series of interviews with Philadelphia politicians, district attorneys, defense attorneys, DHS leaders, community members, and the double homicide trial of Dwayne Brown, an accused drug dealer. This forum brings together some of the people involved in the Dwayne Brown case, and others, to talk about the phenomenon where residents of Philadelphia’s most violent neighborhoods are unwilling or afraid to join with law enforcement officials to make their neighborhoods safer. While the “Code of Silence” has received significant media attention in recent years, we are concerned that the root causes of this behavior are either not addressed or assumed to be so ingrained that there is no solution. We’d like to encourage a more nuanced consideration of the issues. The forum will explore the causes and consequences of the “Code of Silence” and the “Stop Snitching” phenomenon in Philadelphia. United Way, with the support of our other sponsrs, desires to play a more active role in the efforts to overcome violence in Philadelphia, and this we believe that it is important to encourage more public discussion and debate on this delicate, yet crucial subject. David
R. Fair, Vice President for Community Impact
United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania dfair@uwsepa.org |