(see News section for a full listing)
I support town watch groups throughout the district by providing grants towards the purchase of equipment to help them monitor our streets. I have secured funding for the Police District Advisory Councils of the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 17th. I have provided money for street lighting including the seed money for new lighting in the Washington Square West neighborhood.
A leading fighter for gun safety, I favor one gun a month and waiting periods. Understanding that crime is an important issue for everyone, I strongly opposed the repeal of Philadelphia's gun control ordinance and continue to work for instantaneous background checks and preventing private citizens from owning automatic weapons. I am a founding member of the Responsible Gun Safety Caucus and have been endorsed by a variety of gun control organizations including Cease Fire PA. The specific bill that I cosponsored is House Bill 1013.
Legislation cosponsored by me would end the current insurance company practice of discriminating against victims of domestic abuse.
My office was the command post and I was a floor manager for a proposal to amend the Ethnic Intimidation Act, so those who are assaulted because of their perceived or actual sexual orientation are protected in the same way as those who are attacked based on their ethnicity, color, race, and ancestry. The bill was signed into law on 3 December 2002.
One of the first successful prosecutions under the new law took place in October of 2005.
I was a featured speaker at the first ever to be held in Philadelphia Conference on Missing Persons. I am working to provide resources to families of missing loved ones and to local law enforcement and to set up an office, which can assist these families. I have found money to enhance the reward for a missing woman whose case has not received nearly enough press and public attention.
I help fund and am a supporter of the Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia (V/WSSP), which helps people affected by a crime, advocates on their behalf, and helps find compensation for victims.