Nutter to criminals: 'I just put a bounty on your head'

Mayor Nutter formally announced this afternoon that the city will make up to $20,000 in reward money available in all future homicide cases, and described the strategy as "a game-changer."

"To every criminal out there: I just put a $20,000 bounty on your head," Nutter said, flanked by city officials and speaking from a news conference at Strawberry Mansion High School in North Philadelphia. "We are coming for you. We will find you. People will give up that information."

As reported in today's Inquirer, the city also will offer $500 to anyone who can tell police the location of an illegal gun.

Nutter also announced that the city will double the funding provided to the witness assistance program. He cited the killing of Kensington bodega clerk Rosemary Fernandez-Rivera, a potential witness in a murder case who was executed by a gunman who walked into her store this week.

"We must do a better job protecting citizens against those thugs out there that subvert our criminal justice sytem, subvert public safety and continue to propagate that hateful 'don't snitch' mentality," Nutter said.

Nutter and District Attorney Seth Williams said also that they will push for stronger sentences for those arrested on weapons charges.