►
Description
From the hearing of the Committee on Public Safety held Wednesday, October 30, 2019:
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell testifies in support of Bill No. 190749.
Read the bill: https://phila.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4147924&GUID=0E65503C-3A28-4B9A-80ED-65A0DB3CA324&Options=ID|Text|&Search=190749
A
Good
morning,
councilman
Jones
and
members
of
the
Committee
on
Public
Safety,
my
name
is
Katherine
ott/louisville
and
I'm.
The
Philadelphia
Parks
and
Recreation
Commissioner
I'm
here
today
to
testify
in
support
of
bill
number
one.
Nine
zero,
seven
forty-nine
introduced
by
councilmember
bass
for
council
president
clark
establishing
the
safe
haven
law
by
amending
title
10
of
the
philadelphia
code
entitled
regulation
of
individual
individual
conduct
and
activity
by
adding
a
new
section
prohibiting
the
possession
of
weapons
at
city
recreation
facilities.
A
There
are
extraordinary
recreation
leaders
and
community
partners
working
within
our
parks
and
recreation
system
to
provide
safe
spaces
for
young
people,
many
of
whom
face
violence
in
their
daily
lives.
At
159
staff
facilities
throughout
the
city,
Parks
and
Recreation
provides
high
quality
programs
to
100,000
participants
annually.
We
offer
over
90
after-school
programs
and
130
summer
camps
engaging
over
10,000
children.
We
serve
over
2
million
free
meals
annually
at
600
sites,
including
recreation,
centers
playgrounds
and
play
streets.
We
employ
over
111
hundred
teenagers
each
summer,
offering
many
of
them
their
first
type
of
formal
employment.
A
Our
parks
and
recreation
facilities
are
open
and
accessible.
Unlike
other
major
cities
such
as
New
York.
You
do
not
need
an
ID
card
to
enter
a
facility
and,
unlike
the
free
library,
we
do
not
have
municipal
guards.
We
have
over
300
dedicated
recreation
leaders
and
thousands
of
seasonal
support
staff
that
staff,
our
recreation,
centers
and
playgrounds
in
every
single
neighborhood.
These
individuals
are
true:
community
heroes,
oftentimes
working
alone
in
recreation,
centers
and
many
times
prioritizing
the
safety
of
the
children
they
serve
over
their
own.
A
They
struggle
daily
to
ensure
that
our
facilities
remain
safe
havens,
where
children
can
visit
to
escape
the
dangers
of
their
streets.
For
those
reasons,
earlier
this
year,
we
partnered
with
the
office
of
violence
prevention
and
the
Philadelphia
Police
Department
to
develop
and
implement
programs
to
prevent
and
combat
gun
violence
at
recreation,
centers
and
playgrounds.
A
As
a
component
of
the
cities,
Philadelphia
roadmap
to
safer
communities,
we
created
a
basketball
training
program
with
project
pinpoint
neighborhoods
considered
most
vulnerable
to
gun
violence,
the
program
gauged
teens
and
young
adults
at
McVeigh,
Rivera,
Jay,
Finnegan
and
Chi
body
recreation,
centers,
and
focused
on
skill
development,
leadership,
development,
culture
strategies
and
sportsmanship.
The
department
also
extended
weekend
hours
of
operation
at
eleven
recreation
centers.
A
These
events
offered
opportunities
for
families,
children
and
local
police
officers
to
be
outside
and
connect
with
each
other
in
a
peaceful
and
enjoyable
atmosphere.
The
movie
nights
deter
unlawful
behavior
after
hours
by
activating
those
public
spaces
with
positive
activities
and
adult
supervision.
I
believe
that
the
safe
haven
law
will
help
to
strengthen
the
city's
comprehensive
plan
to
reduce
gun
violence
and
enhance
the
quality
of
life
for
all
residents.
This
year
alone,
there
were
14
documented
assaults
on
parks
and
recreation
staff.
A
Here
are
some
of
those
incidents
at
Barratt
playground,
a
recreation
leader
and
an
advisory
council
member
were
held
up
at
gunpoint
by
three
armed
men
who
entered
the
center
during
an
after-school
program
when
children
were
present
at
Shuler
playground,
recreation
leader
was
assaulted
by
an
individual
who
entered
the
center
attempted
to
rob
him
at
Vogue
recreation
center.
A
19
year
old
lifeguard
was
attacked
and
assaulted
by
a
dozen
teens
that
lifeguard
returned
to
work
the
next
day
at
Hunting
Park
Recreation
Center
a
71
year
old,
employee
employee.
Mr.
A
Rob
was
punched
16
times
and
robbed
while
he
was
eating
his
lunch
before
becoming
a
seasonal
employee.
Mr.
rob
was
a
longtime
volunteer
at
the
center
at
Dorothy
Emanuel
recreation
center,
a
recreation
leader
was
assaulted
during
a
robbery
attempt
that
individual
was
hired
just
a
few
months
ago
as
part
of
our
citywide
recruitment
effort
to
diversify
our
recreation
leader
trainees
at
Roosevelt
playground,
recreation
leader
was
forced
to
barricade
himself
inside
his
facility,
as
a
group
of
teams
tried
to
break
in
making
threats
to
his
safety
and
at
Baker
playground.
A
A
shootout
occurred
after
a
basketball
tournament,
wounding
seven
people
pool
maintenance,
attended,
Janine
Helms
was
working
late
that
evening
and
instead
of
hiding
when
she
heard
the
shots
rang
out,
Janine
rushed
to
help
the
children
on
the
playground.
She
also
continued
her
shift
that
evening
and
refused
of
a
home
and
returned
to
work.
The
next
day,
city
council
recently
honored
to
name
pounds
with
a
special
citation
for
her
actions
and
she's
here
to
testify
today.
This
is
just
a
snapshot
of
what
our
Recreation
leaders
encounter
on
a
daily
basis.
A
They
are
literally
working
on
the
front
lines
for
our
city
and
they
deserve
to
feel
safe
and
protected
in
their
workplace
and
the
children.
We
serve
need
to
know
that
when
they
come
to
a
recreation
center
or
playground
that
they
too
will
be
safe
and
free
from
fear.
This
is
why
I
appear
before
you
today
and
offer
parks
and
recreations
full
support.
A
bill
number
one:
nine,
zero,
seven,
forty,
nine
and
respectfully
ask
that
the
committee
move
it
forward
with
City
Council
approval.
A
This
is
not
in
my
written
remarks,
so
I
don't
even
know
if
I'm
allowed
to
say
it,
but
last
night
I
was
at
Target
buying
Halloween
candy,
the
one
on
City
I'm,
not
having
you
and
I,
was
in
the
Halloween
section
and
I
encountered
another
person
who
was
there?
Who
recognized
me
and
commented
to
me
how
glad
they
were
to
have
recreation
centers
in
their
community,
and
you
know
just
what
an
asset
they
were
and
I
said.
A
Well,
the
good
news
is
that
recreation
centers
are
going
to
be
even
safer,
because
tomorrow
there's
a
hearing
that
City
Council
has
called
to
make
sure
that
we
can
make
short,
no
guns
and
no
weapons
are
allowed
in
our
recreation
centers,
and
this
woman
said
to
me:
oh
my
god,
I
can't
believe
we
have
to
have
a
hearing
on
that.
She
said
why
is
this
just
not
common
sense
and
that
struck
me
to
my
core
and
as
I
drove
home
from
Target
last
night,
I
thought.