Consider, though, the toll of the war fought on our own soil: 29,569 Americans died by gunfire in 2004, the last year the FBI tracked national figures. That number included 11,000 gun-related homicides.

Our city has had the dubious achievement of leading the way on this trend. Ten weeks ago, Mayor Nutter moved into City Hall. Since a cornerstone of his campaign promised 10 weeks to a safe Philadelphia, it's time to see how safe we are.

In his mayoral campaign, Nutter outlined a five-step plan for reducing the homicide rate. The steps included: declaring a crime emergency; saturating targeted enforcement zones with directed patrols and stop and frisk proceduces; focusing on repeat offenders, probation and parole violators; getting more money to hire more police and pushing to enable the police commissioner to choose more deputies; and developing a city where people have better futures. There are pages of details for these larger goals. Many of them are by definition long-term solutions rather than overnight fixes. But so far, the numbers look promising.

As of Monday, the city has seen a 23 percent drop in homicides - 67 murders so far in 2008, compared with 88 on the same date last year.

Is this a significant enough shift to declare a trend? Is Nutter's plan working?

Unfortunately, it's a little too early to declare victory. The numbers actually began moving downward in the waning days of the Street administration. But surely, something is working.

On Day One, Nutter did back away from declaring an official crime emergency, and instead issued a symbolic one. He then hired Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, who quickly developed a better deployment plan and a "return to the basics."

Last month, City Council moved a bill forward to put a charter change on the ballot allowing the police commissioner to handpick more deputies. Volume on the talk of hiring 500 new cops has been turned down in the face of budget challenges. The biggest change: A mayor and a police commissioner who have set ambitious goals for reducing crime and who want to be held accountable for results. That alone makes us feel safer. *