By Catherine Lucey, The Philadelphia Inquirer
The expression “snitches get stitches” is known all too well in many Philly neighborhoods.
This mantra is the bane of police and prosecutors trying to solve violent crimes. Officials say that heinous criminals often go free because witnesses are threatened, maimed or killed on the streets.
The mass murder of six people in a North Philadelphia rowhouse Saturday morning may be part of that brutal cycle of fear and intimidation.
In this case it was a snitch’s family. The victims of an early-morning arson were family of a man who is an unconfirmed informant in a federal drug probe, sources said.
“All the big bad guys know that all they have to do is threaten a witness, or go to the sister, niece or nephew,” a law enforcement source said.
Although the city and federal government offer witness services and often rewards for information, many people say the risk is just too high. And so they stay quiet. Or they recant or back out at the last minute.
Officials say it’s infuriating.
“That is the biggest problem in Philadelphia: the ability of the bad guys to do witness intimidation, where if everyone worked together, that big crime would be solved,” a law enforcement official said.
The most prominent unsolved crime this year is the shooting death of 10-year-old Faheem Thomas-Child outside a North Philadelphia school. Two men have been charged with murder, but police can’t arrest others because witnesses won’t come forward.
So what is done to help encourage witnesses and protect them?
In certain federal cases, witnesses are given new identities through the federal witness protection program. More than 7,500 witnesses and 9,500 family members have signed on since it started in 1970. It costs as much as $25 million or $30 million a year.
But for local cases, the cost of identity makeovers and bodyguarding is prohibitive.
The district attorney’s office has offered temporary relocation services for witnesses since 1993. It allows witnesses who testify to be moved to a different apartment or house. Rent is payed for three or four months.
About 40 people are relocated through this program each year. The attorney general’s office has funded this effort for the past two years at about $250,000 a year.
District Attorney Lynne Abraham has asked the city to help pay for witness programs but has been unsuccessful. She said last year that the state funding was not enough. Of course even with more services, there’s no knowing if people will sign on. Many don’t trust that they’ll truly be safe, and others don’t want to leave their homes.
Another effort to get witnesses to talk is offering rewards for information. But over $20,000 hasn’t helped find the man who raped and killed medical student Rebecca Park in Fairmount Park last year.
The people who suffer when witnesses don’t talk are the families of crime victims.
Darlene Brennan’s son, James, 20, was beaten to death outside of a Ridley Township bar six years ago. No one has been convicted of his murder.
“I know there’s people out there who know what happened, know who did it,” she said. “They don’t want to come forward. They’re afraid.”
Brennan, 49, of Upland, Pa., added, “It’s horrible. I don’t know what the answer is.”