Office of Speaker Dennis M. O’Brien
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Bill Patton
717-787-4610
Speaker O’Brien to discuss crime-fighting strategies
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 8 – House Speaker Dennis O’Brien will speak informally about an anti-violence initiative he created at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10 at CORA Services Inc., 8540 Verree Road in Northeast Philadelphia.
He will discuss a series of meetings begun last summer in which policy experts, service providers, police and prosecutors undertook intensive discussion and brainstorming to identify possible solutions to reduce crime and violence in Pennsylvania.
O’Brien plans a Speaker’s Symposium on Crime and Violence in Harrisburg in March when participants in the work groups will present their findings and combine their expertise to propose solutions.
The work groups met six times, including four meetings in Philadelphia and one each in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. All state House members were invited and several attended each meeting.
The work groups looked at crime and criminal justice; education and economics; drug, alcohol and behavioral health issues; and investment in lives with an emphasis on outreach by community groups.
This initiative began when the House recessed for the summer and O’Brien invited House members, professionals with special expertise, and other stakeholders to participate in a series of work group discussions about crime and violence.
“The work group format allowed us to share ideas in an open and dynamic forum,” O’Brien said. “It’s less rigid and more collaborative. Most importantly, it allows more voices to be heard.
“By building on the good-faith efforts already undertaken by concerned House members, this alternative process of building consensus behind ideas that will work will help us to reduce the deaths and injuries caused by all types of violent crime,” he said.
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