Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter was sworn in and delivered his inaugural address in a ceremony at The Academy of Music on Monday.
Nutter, 54, begins his second term as mayor of the City of Brotherly Love, as Philly tops a disturbing list as the city with the highest homicide rate of the nation's 10 most populous cities.
Philadelphia beat out Chicago, Los Angeles and New York with 324 murders in 2011. That number, however, is down from Nutterβs first year in office, when the 2007 murder rate was 392.
The mayor said that one of his main focuses this term is to continue to try and slow the homicide rate. The year is already off to a violent start with five murders in just three hours on New Year's Day.
Mayor Nutter asked what Philadelphia is prepared to do about the murders of 2011. He said that nearly 83-percent of the city's homicide victims in 2011 were killed with a handgun. Almost 75-percent of the victims were African American and nearly 80-percent of the people accused were African Americans.
Nutter promised 120 new police officers would be on patrol by the summer of 2012 as one way to begin to remedy the problem. He said the city will continue to build partnerships with communities as another solution.
Another major goal, Nutter said, is getting illegal guns off the streets. Philly's mayor promised to go after people who commit crimes with guns "aggressively and relentlessly every day."
The mayor said he plans to find ways to curb crime by helping people get access to more jobs, books and a good education.
"If you put that gun down, we'll put a job in your hands...We'll work with you to put a future back in your own hands," Nutter assured the citizens.
Mayor Nutter also stressed the importance of the city's education system and says he will work diligently to give Philadelphians better education options.
"I am motivated by a vision of what we can be," said Nutter. "This is the City of Brotherly Love and sisterly affection. We look out for each other, stand up for each other and fight for each other."