Office of Violence Prevention

The Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) is a City of Philadelphia office created to coordinate non-police strategies for reducing shootings and homicides. Established in 2017 by Mayor Jim Kenney, it funds community organizations, runs street-outreach and intervention programs, and works with the Police Department, Public Health, schools and courts. Under Mayor Cherelle Parker it sits within an Office of Public Safety and is referred to on the city's website as the Division of Safe Neighborhoods. ^[1][2]

1 Creation and place in the city

Philadelphia recorded 562 homicides in 2021, its highest annual total on record, and violence prevention became a leading issue in city politics. OVP was established in 2017 by Mayor Kenney's order; under Mayor Parker it has been reorganized into the Office of Public Safety, which the city says is led by Chief Public Safety Director Adam Geer, and the city's website now calls it the Division of Safe Neighborhoods, with Shondell Revell as executive director. The structure is explained in Mayor's Cabinet and Offices and the Managing Director's Office. As a mayoral office created by administrative action rather than a charter department, its structure can be changed by the Mayor, subject to Council appropriations.

2 Programs

The city describes the division's work as preventing, reducing and ending violence, with a focus on gun violence, through three approaches: promoting violence prevention citywide, in partnership with law enforcement, city agencies and the community, to develop Gun Violence Intervention strategies; investing in what works, using data and research; and strengthening communities with supports and positive alternatives. The programs it lists are the Community Crisis Intervention Program (CCIP), the Violence Prevention Partnership, Group Violence Intervention (GVI), Group Violence Intervention - Juvenile (GVI-J), the Rapid Response Team and Pushing Progress Philly (P3). ^[2] Revell previously spent ten years as executive director of the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership, an initiative focused on high-risk young people. The Office of Public Safety also announced in February 2026 what it described as a first-in-the-nation municipal fund to support families burdened by funeral costs for homicide victims. The city has also built workforce pipelines for violence-prevention workers, as reported by Governing. ^[3]

3 Grants and funding

A large share of the office's work goes out as grants to community organizations. On June 18, 2025 the Office of Public Safety announced that 147 grantees had been awarded nearly $24 million in Anti-Violence Community Partnership Grants, and said the amount would increase to $30 million the following year. The program has three funding tiers: Targeted Community Investment Grants of $1,500 to $50,000; invitation-only Community Capacity Grants of $50,000 to $100,000; and Community Expansion Grants of $100,000 to $1 million for work such as trauma-informed healing, restorative practices, safe havens and mentorship. After a redesign in 2024 informed by an evaluation by Equal Measure, the city said it added grants staff, moved the larger tiers to two-year cycles, hired Public Health Management Corporation as a third-party fiscal agent and funded technical assistance for grantees. ^[4] Funds come from the city budget and from state and federal sources; see Philadelphia City Budget Process for how annual appropriations work, and Understanding City Contracts and Bids for contracting rules.

4 Evaluation and criticism

As spending grew, news organizations asked whether the programs were measurably reducing violence. WHYY reported on city efforts to evaluate whether its anti-violence programs were working, and the city said in June 2025 that it had redesigned its grant program in 2024 after an evaluation by Equal Measure, in part to avoid placing undue burden on grantees. The city has pointed to declines in homicides in 2024 and 2025 as evidence that its approach, which combines enforcement and prevention, was working, according to 6abc; researchers generally caution that multiple factors, including national trends, influence violence rates. ^[3][5] Readers should consult the City Controller's reports and the city's open data for current figures; see Open Data and Transparency Tools.

5 How residents and groups engage

Community organizations apply for grants through the Office of Public Safety's Anti-Violence Community Partnership Grants program. Residents can learn about neighborhood programs and resources on the division's website and through Philly311. People affected by violence may be referred to victim-services programs, including those run by the District Attorney's Office, and to behavioral-health supports through the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. Block groups can see How to Organize a Block or Neighborhood Group.

See also: Philadelphia Police Department, Department of Public Health, Community Development Corporations, Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity.

References

1. City of Philadelphia, "Mayor Kenney establishes Office of Violence Prevention," phila.gov (2017).
2. City of Philadelphia, Division of Safe Neighborhoods and Office of Violence Prevention department pages, phila.gov.
3. WHYY, "Philadelphia wants to know if its anti-violence programs are working"; Governing, "Philadelphia builds pipeline for violence prevention workers."
4. City of Philadelphia, "City of Philadelphia Invests Nearly $24 Million in Grants to 147 Gun Violence Prevention Community Organizations" (June 18, 2025), phila.gov.
5. 6abc, "Philadelphia awards anti-violence grants as city reports drop in homicides."