Editing Philadelphia (section)

====Police and law enforcement====
{{Main|Philadelphia Police Department}}

[[File:Philadelphia Police Headquarters.jpg|thumb|The [[Philadelphia Police Department]] administration building, known as the Roundhouse, in [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]] east of [[Chinatown, Philadelphia|Chinatown]]]]
[[File:Philadelphia Police - cruiser on Ben Franklin Parkway.jpeg|thumb|A Philadelphia police cruiser on [[Benjamin Franklin Parkway]]]]
In a 2015 report by Pew Charitable Trusts, the [[Philadelphia Police Department#Districts|police districts]] with the highest rates of violent crime were [[Frankford, Philadelphia|Frankford]] (15th district) and [[Kensington, Philadelphia|Kensington]] (24th district) in the [[Near Northeast Philadelphia|Near Northeast]], and districts to the [[North Philadelphia|North]] (22nd, 25th, and 35th districts), [[West Philadelphia|West]] (19th district) and [[Southwest Philadelphia|Southwest]] (12th district) of [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]]. Each of those seven districts recorded more than a thousand violent crimes in 2014. The lowest rates of violent crime occurred in Center City, [[South Philadelphia]], the [[Far Northeast Philadelphia|Far Northeast]], and [[Roxborough, Philadelphia|Roxborough]] districts, the latter of which includes [[Manayunk, Philadelphia|Manayunk]].<ref name="State of the City 2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/Assets/2015/04/2015-State-of-the-City-Report_Web.pdf |title=Philadelphia 2015: The State of the City |website=pewtrusts.org |publisher=The Pew Charitable Trusts |date=March 2015 |access-date=April 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606054538/http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/Assets/2015/04/2015-State-of-the-City-Report_Web.pdf |archive-date=June 6, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Philadelphia had 500, 503 according to some sources, murders in 1990, a rate of 31.5 per 100,000. An average of about 400 murders occurred each year for most of the 1990s. The murder count dropped in 2002 to 288, then rose to 406 by 2006, before dropping slightly to 392 in 2007.<ref name="mikenutterllc.com">{{cite web |url=https://mikenutterllc.com/news/news-item/philadelphia-homicides-1960-2020 |title=Philadelphia Homicides 1960-2020 |website=mikenutterllc.com |date=February 10, 2021 |access-date=December 22, 2021 |archive-date=December 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202170544/https://mikenutterllc.com/news/news-item/philadelphia-homicides-1960-2020 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bewley |first1=Joel |first2=Jan |last2=Hefler |date=December 11, 2006 |title=Four killings put 2006 total over '05 top |journal=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmtpi/is_200612/ai_n16975780 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209122227/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmtpi/is_200612/ai_n16975780 |archive-date=December 9, 2007 }}</ref> A few years later, Philadelphia began to see a rapid decline in homicides and violent crime. In 2013, the city had 246 murders, which is a decrease of nearly 40% since 2006.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/01/the-year-in-murder-2013-marks-a-historic-low-for-many-cities.html |title=The Year in Murder: 2013 Marks a Historic Low for Many Cities |newspaper=The Daily Beast |date=January 2014 |access-date=February 25, 2014 |last1=Zadrozny |first1=Brandy |author-link1=Brandy Zadrozny |archive-date=February 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140216133414/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/01/the-year-in-murder-2013-marks-a-historic-low-for-many-cities.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2014, 248 homicides were committed. The homicide rate rose to 280 in 2015, then fell slightly to 277 in 2016, before rising again to 317 in 2017.<ref name="phillypolice.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.phillypolice.com/crime-maps-stats/ |title=Crime Maps & Stats – Philadelphia Police Department |access-date=January 24, 2017 |archive-date=January 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126201348/https://www.phillypolice.com/crime-maps-stats/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Homicides increased dramatically in the late 2010s/early 2020s, reaching 499 homicides in 2020<ref name="mikenutterllc.com"/> and surpassing the 1990 "record" in 2021, with 501st murder on November 27 and 510 by the end of the month.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/sense-of-lawlessness-with-500-killings-2021-is-deadliest-in-philly-history/3057586/ |title='Sense of Lawlessness': With 500 Killings, 2021 Is Deadliest in Philly History |work=NBC10 Philadelphia |first1=Brian X. |last1=McCrone |first2=Rudy |last2=Chinchilla |date=November 25, 2021 |access-date=December 22, 2021 |archive-date=December 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222160707/https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/sense-of-lawlessness-with-500-killings-2021-is-deadliest-in-philly-history/3057586/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Phillie ended the year with 562 murders, an all-time record. It dropped in 2022 to 514, and significantly further again in 2023, to 410.
<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-homicides-down-20-percent-2023-da-larry-krasner/ |title=Philly homicides down 20% in 2023, DA Larry Krasner says end of COVID restrictions helped |work=WHYY |last=MacDonald |first=Tom |date=January 4, 2024 |access-date=May 16, 2024 |archive-date=May 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517084430/https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-homicides-down-20-percent-2023-da-larry-krasner/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2006, Philadelphia's homicide rate of 27.7 per 100,000 people was the highest of the country's 10 most populous cities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://inquirer.philly.com/graphics/homicide_map_2007/ |title=Philadelphia Homicides in 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420104106/http://inquirer.philly.com/graphics/homicide_map_2007/ |archive-date=April 20, 2008 }}</ref> In 2012, Philadelphia had the fourth-highest homicide rate among the country's most populous cities. The rate dropped to 16 homicides per 100,000 residents by 2014 placing Philadelphia as the sixth-highest city in the country.<ref name="State of the City 2015"/>

The number of shootings in the city has declined significantly since the early years of the 21st century. Shooting incidents peaked at 1,857 in 2006 before declining nearly 44 percent to 1,047 shootings in 2014.<ref name="State of the City 2015" /> Major crimes have decreased gradually since a peak in 2006 when 85,498 major crimes were reported. The number of reported major crimes fell 11 percent in three years to 68,815 occurrences in 2014. [[Violent crime]]s, which include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery, decreased 14 percent in three years to 15,771 occurrences in 2014.<ref name="State of the City 2015" />

In 2014, Philadelphia enacted an ordinance decriminalizing the possession of less than 30 grams of [[marijuana]] or eight grams of [[hashish]]; the ordinance gave police officers the discretion to treat possession of these amounts as a civil infraction punishable by a $25 ticket, rather than a crime.<ref name="Nuri">{{cite web |url=https://whyy.org/articles/activists-to-celebrate-4-years-of-marijuana-decriminalization-in-philadelphia/ |publisher=WHYY |title=Activists to celebrate 4 years of marijuana decriminalization in Philadelphia |first=Trenae |last=Nuri |date=October 19, 2018 |access-date=January 20, 2019 |archive-date=January 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121064229/https://whyy.org/articles/activists-to-celebrate-4-years-of-marijuana-decriminalization-in-philadelphia/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Goldstein">{{cite web |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/business/cannabis/3-years-after-decriminalization-philly-police-still-hooked-on-marijuana-arrests-20170602.html |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |first=Chris |last=Goldstein |title=3 years after decriminalization, Philly police still hooked on marijuana arrests |date=June 5, 2017 |access-date=January 20, 2019 |archive-date=January 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121010908/http://www.philly.com/philly/business/cannabis/3-years-after-decriminalization-philly-police-still-hooked-on-marijuana-arrests-20170602.html |url-status=live }}</ref> At the time, Philadelphia was at the largest city in the nation to decriminalize the possession of marijuana.<ref name="Goldstein"/> From 2013 to 2018, marijuana arrests in the city dropped by more than 85%.<ref name="Nuri"/> The purchase or sale of marijuana remains a criminal offense in Philadelphia.<ref name="Goldstein"/>