New statistics show that the number of homicides is down in 2013. Jerry Ratcliffe, criminal justice professor at Temple, is part of the Smart Policing Initiative team, which works on strategies to reduce crime. He says one of the biggest game changers has been foot patrols. “The offenders who were sometimes committing crime are aware that there are foot patrol officers who are nearby, who know exactly who they are, and know exactly the sort of thing that they could get up to, and that tends to have a fairly suppressive effect on crime,” Ratcliffe said.