The Center Square) – Gov. Josh Shapiro joined leadership in Chester to celebrate strides in the city’s battle against violent crime.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said that the state and local partnerships in place had led to the “safest year, probably in decades,” with 74 fewer gun homicides and 65 fewer shootings than the previous year.
Stollsteimer highlighted the resources the commonwealth was able to bring to bear on gun violence within the small city, including the use of Pennsylvania State Police officers during critical shortages in the area. The city also received $2.6 million in funding from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
The state police itself is already responsible for law enforcement across huge swaths of the commonwealth where there isn’t the resources for a local authority.
The force has suffered major losses since 2020, from officers reaching retirement age, attrition and difficulty recruiting new candidates. The state has begun to recover those numbers, funding the recruitment, hiring and training of 800 new PSP officers and supporting local forces to increase their numbers.
PSP Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris noted that community organizations like the Boys and Girls Club in Chester play a large role in reducing crime.
“Public Safety is a shared mission. It’s not just about enforcement — it’s about prevention, partnership and preparation,” said Paris. “It’s about building lasting trust between law enforcement and the people we serve. And most of all, it’s about producing real, tangible results that communities can see and feel.”
To that end, Chester Mayor Stefan Roots gave credit to the residents of Chester for their role in changing the city’s culture and speaking up about potential dangers.
“Now, they see the help that’s coming in and they realize how important it is that each and every citizen contributes to the safety in their own household and their own community and the schools,” said Roots.
Stollsteimer said that initiatives over the summer did include putting more officers on shifts to prevent crimes from occurring but also hosting community parties. The events served the dual purpose of offering kids “things to do to keep themselves out of trouble” as well as building trusting relationships within the community.
Yet, even with the feel-good energy generated by successes in Chester, the larger specter of violence loomed over the governor. Neighboring Philadelphia is one of the cities that has been floated for expanding President Donald Trump’s campaign of using the National Guard to curb crime in American cities.
Shapiro said that he is not aware of any concrete plans for that to occur, but his administration is preparing for the possibility.
Like Washington D.C., crime is already trending downward in Philadelphia without federal intervention.
“If the president of the United States really cares about crime, he should come here to Chester and see how it actually works to reduce crime,” said Shapiro. “And the way you do that is investing in law enforcement. The way you do that is investing in community programs that work.”
