It’s been a while since the Fresh Prince (Will Smith) could call Philadelphia the City of Brotherly Love. In 2007, the crime rates in Philly rose so high, the city earned itself a new nickname’Killadelphia’. In 2007, the murder rate in the city was more than a murder a day. Even more shocking, teenagers and young adults were the main source of the killings. Fortunately, crime rates have decreased in magnitude in the past three years, but not enough to boast about. The city still has a low crime index of 12; meaning 88 of cities in the US are safer than Philly. If you break the city down into regions, some areas are safer than others; the safest being Henry Avenue and Wissahickon Dr with a crime index of 86 (100 is safest) and the most dangerous being along Drexel U and Walnut Street where the crime index is a shockingly dangerous low of 0 (zero)–meaning this is the most unsafe area in the country. Annually, a total of 20,902 violent crimes and 60,931 property crimes were committed in Philly. Over 300 of the violent crimes were cold blooded murder, more than 1,000 were rape crimes, and the rest were combined robbery and assaults. In 2008, the city saw the violent crime rate drop an overall 3. Some areas unfortunately increased 3-12.3, but others managed to decrease their violent crime rate by 26.9.In a city that sees an average of around 80,000 crimes, there are only 12,500 city employees involved in public safety trying to keep the crime rates in check. This workforce includes the police, prison guards, prosecutors, and sheriff’s deputies who cost taxpayers a whopping 1.4 billion a year. However, this force of 12,500 was responsible for putting away 15,300 convicts in state prison, 9,400 in city jails, and putting 48,000 on probation and parole in 2008 alone. In the long run, the number of law enforcement officers and the high crime rates aren’t as important as remembering the victims of the constant crime. The victims are the reason we should make it our goal to decrease criminal activity and help return the title of Brotherly Love to Philadelphia.