They are taking a new tack to fight an old problem in Chester.
The city recorded its first homicide of 2016 over the weekend. That's actually an improvement from 2015, when the new year was barely a few hours old when two lives were lost on Chester's streets.
New Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland and Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan held a press conference Monday to detail a new reward program in hopes of leading to the killer of David Alston.
The city is putting up $5,000, as is the D.A.'s office.
You can get all the details here.
There were 34 homicides in Delaware County in 2015. Of those, 24 of them took place in the city.
The partnership between the city and county is believed to be a first. But Whelan believes there is one more entity that needs to join this crime-fighting team. That would be the public.
"We believe that people know who the murderer is," Whelan said. "It's time that the police, the D.A.'s office and the residents in the city of Chester work together to make our community safer so that we can address this crime."
Clearly, Kirkland has placed attacking the city's violence and crime problem at the top of his new administration's agenda.
"We're serious when it comes to bringing criminals to justice, even if it means putting a price on their head," Kirkland said.
It will interesting to see if the public joins the effort.
Right now they have 10,000 new reasons to get involved.
Comments