dramatic progress in the fight against crime in one of the country's most dangerous cities. live there is sara bloomquist. new crime statistics are telling quite a story. >> reporter: jim as you know there were plenty of sceptics when the county immented this county force, overall crime is down 40% in two years ago and we rode along with the police chief this afternoon to get a better idea as to why. >> north camden is one of our most challenging neighborhood. >> camden is consistently labeled one of the most dangerous cities in the nation. shootings are down 35% and total crime down 22% and police chief scott thompson took us around to show us what is different and why.

>> this was the hub where most of your suburbanites would come to purchase their heroin. >> she ran this here for 24 years. >> the big of the difference for me is that the drug dealers are not standing right on the corner and you don't have to say excuse plea to get by them. >> they took the bold step of replacing their metro police force with a county force. close to 400 cops patrol these streets. >> i will grant you that. >> they do not drive by in squad cars with their windows rolled up. they are out of their car and engaging people. >> it's combined with cutting edge technology. >> chief thompson took us inside of the real time intelligence center, analysts track officers

with gps to make sure they are deploy the efficiently and effectively and they monitor 125 surveillance cameras, it makes us smarter and faster and chief thompson says it's a good measure of success and camden residents are starting to feel safe. >> and an honor to be a part of this watershed moment in the city. >> everyone acknowledges there is still a great deal of work to be done. also, this is a county force that still only patrols this city but a city leader told me today that could change very soon. and they expect two additional communities to join the force within the year. i'm sara bloomquist, channel 6 "action news." >> thank you sara. philadelphia police are searching for clues in a double murder in crescentville, two men were shot to death at a home on the 500 block of allens grove street. a woman found the bodies at

10:00 this morning and the block is an area of heavy drug traffic and they are not saying if that had anything to do with the crime. philadelphia police have a man in custody and they plan to file murder charges in connection with a shooting and car fire in olney yesterday. the victim is identified as rafael rivera, witnesses say he was shot in the car at the 400 block of roseland street yesterday afternoon then the car was found burning on lawrence street. rivera's body was inside. the suspect is the owner of the car there is no word on an arrest. planning began seven years ago for the new dillworth park, it's not completely done but the consensus today was that the park is a great edition to the

city. live on the ground is shred. what kind of reaction are you hearing today? >> reporter: nothing but supertives here all day long. wonderful, terrific and fantastic, a new name and new lease on life, dillworth park is indeed something special. >> with enormous fanfare, the former dillworth plaza officially became dillworth park, after two years and a $55 million makeover, it featured well lit entrances from septa trains and a gorgeous park upstairs with eating space, a cafe and skating rink and fountain. and all sorts of stuff including wifi. >> we now have a build that is not only beautiful on the inside but also we have made it

beautiful outside. >> maintenance of this new park is handled by the center city district, cleaning security and landscaping and more. we'll program this space so there is more entertainment and music and not mega events, we'll feature artists across the city, there is food here and lots of things to do. from folks that travel these parts, nothing but praise for this project. >> it has gone into a state of decline, and this great, great new access to the subway system, the a real boon to the city. >> it's nice, a lot better than it was, a nice park to gather around. >> this is beautiful, wonderful wonderful for the city andle people and everything is wonderful. >> jim, a little more construction work has to be done on the south side of this, but the entire remodeling job is

completed by thanksgiving, at dillworth park near city hall, vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >> thank you vernon also in center city, septa's market east is now jefferson station, officials unveiled new signs to mark the change, the $3.9 million deal gave jefferson health system renaming rights for five years. it's just two blocks to the south. philadelphia congressman, chaka fattah made his first appearance today since his former campaign adviser plead guilty to corruption charges, he repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. his long-term aide gregory nailer said he used campaign funds to pay off debts. while not named in complaints or

documents, is he widely believed to be elected official a, and fattah repeatedly denies wrongdoing. >> i have never been involved in any illegal conduct. i would never do anything to embarrass my family or constituents. >> fattah says the feds have been investigating him for seven years and he vows to win re-election in november. all students in the philadelphia district, the school district are now eligible for free meals starting this fall. the transition to a federally funded breakfast and lunch program, the benefits ease the strain on household budgets and eliminate the stigma by offering free meals to everyone. fast food workers some of them

walked off the job here and across the country, they want minimum wage of $15 an hour and a union. in philadelphia hundreds of people rallied at mcdonald's at broad and marched down to broad and arch. many fast food workers begin at $7.25 an hour. the forever brash comedian, joan rivers died today in new york city. she never recovered from cardiac arrest last year going for a routine procedure. she died at 1:17 this afternoon. she burst on the scene in 1965 on the johnny carson show when women comics were rare and worked at a furious pace every day of her life after that. she explained how she was a real survivor. >> it's all been done to me. what are they going to do? are they going to fire me? i have been fired.

audiences aren't going to like me? they don't like me. i have been bankrupt. it's okay, i am still here. >> she was a real trooper, i mean she would do anything, she would go anywhere, do what she had to do. she had that old showbiz ethic of lets put on a show, do what you have to do and pick yourself up and go. >> people say i wish i was 30 again, no i'm happy here, it's great and gets better and better and then of course we die. joan rivers was 81. world news tonight with david muir has more on the life and death of joan rivers next on channel 6. coming up tonight, incoming freshman at princeton university is getting real world experience before classes begin next week

and the eagles are anxious to get the season started as are their fans. ducis rogers has that story. >> another warm and dry day, i'm tracking a steamy air mass as well as storms that could complicate your weekend. those stories and more when "action news" continues tonight.

in other news tonight, the carousel on the seaside heights boardwalk that survived hurricane sandy is no longer for sale. the owners of the casino pier

said they would auction but the town struck a deal, they are swapping ocean front property in exchange for the 1910 carousel. a plan is june way to expand the boathouse in mercer, it will double the side of the building and feature large event space and kitchen and the county expects to open the new boathouse by next summer. classes begin next wednesday at princeton university but for members of the freshman class their education has already begun. nora muchanic has that story. >> classes have not started yet but princeton university students are hard at work, they are participating in a program called community action, focusing on the issue of hung, they volunteer at food banks and food pantries and soup kitchens

in trenton and philadelphia. >> i got a firsthand experience of how much people need this food. >> kevin is one of almost 200 students that are packing and unpacking tens of thousands of food and shelving food in trenton. they work hard all day and then sleep on a church floor at night. >> every time i fall asleep on the ground i fall asleep satisfied that i happened to feed a few people. >> part of the idea is to get princeton students outside of orange bubble and expose them to what is happening in the world, in this case just minutes away from campus. >> trenton is close to princeton and we see the struggles and what goes on in trenton. >> this exits locally and globally and it has a direct impant on that. there is nothing glamorous about the week including cleaning up a park in trenton but it is making

a powerful impregts on the student. >> the people may be less fortunate that doesn't mean we pity them or see them as lower, because at the end of the day they are just like us. >> i think i'm more inclined to do more service now too, and to look on the world in a different light. in trenton, i'm nora muchanic, channel 6 "action news." former philadelphia district attorney, emet fitzpatrick has died. he was the d.a. of philadelphia from 1974 to 1977 and then a high-profile defender taking on some of the city's biggest cases for the next 25 years, fitzpatrick was a regular contributor to 6 abc's inside story. he died of alzh (postal worker) hey! millers! you two day-dreaming?

(millers, in unison) yes. (postal worker) about your victorian dream home? (mrs. miller) uh huh. (postal worker) or maybe a colonial home? (mr. miller) how did you... (postal worker) you have the new game from the pennsylvania lottery. (mr. miller) yeah, the new $1,000,000 instant jackpot! (mrs. miller) with 5 top prizes of $1,000,000. (postal worker) welcome to the neighborhood! (voice over) want to see your dreams come to life? you could scratch your way to instant winning today. the pennsylvania lottery. bring your dreams to life. tom wolf. he'd be a different kind of governor. he served in the peace corps in india. and then got a phd from mit. and as a businessman he gives between 20 and 30 percent of his profits back to his employees. when he served as pennsylvania's secretary of revenue. he turned down the perks. and donated his government salary to charity he refused take a state car, he drove his old jeep instead. can't argue with that. tom wolf. he'd bring a fresh start to pennsylvania.

do you guys do instant hey, i losreplacement?ard. (snap!) what just happened? check your wallet. no. ...no way. your debit card should arrive in 7-10 business days. it's time to bank human again. get debit cards on the spot, and no monthly fee checking with just a $100 minimum balance at td bank. america's most convenient bank.

i know this is your profession, but aren't you getting excited about sunday's season opener. >> i am. they had a playoff game where they were leading and lost to the saints. >> the sprint for the nfl season is about to get underway and the eagles can't wait to get started. >> it's week one and you wait a long time until after the game for this to come back around. >> everyone is ready to rock 'n roll. >> they have a new quarterback -- no that is chip kelly. he is building a successful season. >> you make sure you have enough tools in your tool box so if you need a phillips you use it and a hammer you have it. >> this hit the nail on the head. >> this is a tonight setting game.

you don't know what they will throw at you. they can throw anything but the kitchen sink. the big of the advance into week one is their comfort level, a year of chip kelly under their belts. >> feeling confident that it does work. >> we are going to establish our identity and who we want to world to perceive us as. something the other teams across the team can look at and say dang that is the eagles right there. >> jaime apody, channel 6 "action news." as we will every week we check in with former eagles quarterback ron jaworsky, even though the eagles are double digit favorites. we cannot take anything for granted. >> week one is the most unpredictable week of the entire season. the nfl has evolved to where nobody shows anything in the preseason, star players play

very little in the preseason, so you don't know what to expect and the eagles are prohibitive players in this game but its it's national football league and gus bradley did a good job of turning his football team around. they are being built like the seattle seahawks and they will be a formidable opponent come sunday afternoon. >> you'll get more in jaws during our eagles kick off show and after the game, we have game day final here on 6 abc your official eagles station. finally, a day after the los angeles dodger his mo'ne davis throw out the first pitch, they hit the other age of the spectrum. dorothy will soon turn 100 years old. she has been a dodgers fan her entire life back when the

franchise was in brooklyn and for her it was a dream come true. >> i can't believe i am here, i watch every game on tv, and sat in the seats but never been down here. >> it looked to be a perfect strike if you ask me. cecily tynan has the accuweather forecast when we continue in just a moment. our dad's a plumber.

a business manager. and a stickler for homework. i'm john kane running for state senate. dad says the road to a good job starts in the classroom. [ lori ] he's a great dad who sees taxes going up but schools not getting the funding they need. [ john ] so i'd put back the billion dollars corbett cut from education and make sure corporations and natural gas drillers paid their fair share. time to close the loopholes for the tax cheats. dad thinks a lot about education. i'm john kane and it's about time harrisburg did too.

so we have unsettled weather moving into the tri-state area. >> and steamy weather as well for the next two days and then it feels like fall. big changes over the weekend, stormtracker 6 live double scan

showing we have dry conditions tonight and a good night to head to a nature reserve that is what the action cam did. look at this turtle hanging out in the pond. he is swimming in some stuff there. you may want to head to the water because it is going to get hot and steamy and today on the warm side, the morning low 68 degrees, 3 degrees above normal and the afternoon high is 87 and the dew points were generally in the low 60s and that is pretty comfortable, so just slightly humid out there. nice day and 84 degrees in philadelphia and millville 81 and allentown 86 and wilmington 82 and the beaches the sea breach kicks off in the 70s, satellite 6 along with action radar showing we are dry but if you look down to the south and west you can see storms beginning to bubble up ahead of a warm front and the cold front is slicing through the midwest and that brings changes in our weather as we head through the

weekend. future tracker showing tomorrow morning, we'll see more in the way of clouds and humid. we could have a few spotty sprinkles and as we head into the afternoon, the buildup of heat and humidity temperatures in the upper 80s and humid and could get scattered thunderstorms and downpours, the main action though is waiting on saturday. saturday most of the day is rain free and then as we head into the evening, as a strong cold front approaches, we have a good squall line approaching, sometime between 6:00 and 8:00, moving offshore by midnight, behind this system things change dramatically, dew points tomorrow and saturday, future tracker showing temperatures in the mid-70s, that is a tropical air mass, once you get the cold front moving through, the dry flow of air and dew points on sunday in the 40s and 50s, that

is extremely dry and comfortable and great timing for the home opener, kickoff at the link is beautiful, a mixture of sun and clouds and low humidity and comfortableably cool temperatures, 76 degrees by the fourth quarter 70 degrees, dry on sunday and great weather for football. the call from accuweather, slightly humid and on the warm side and 63 degrees, 73 for center city and the exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast, very warm and humid with a high of 89 degrees, could have a few scattered afternoon thunderstorms, on saturday though, 90 degrees and humid with late day storms and saturday night especially could have strong storms. feeling like fall on monday and a mixture of sun and clouds and we keep this cool weather right into the middle of next week, 77 on monday and tuesday still nice

and clouds and 79 degrees and wednesday it clouds up with showers developing and 78 degrees and thursday looks somewhat wet as well with clouds and showers with a high of 76 degrees, if you like summer time you'll like the first half of the weekend, if you like fall you'll like the second half. >> thank you cecily. abc's world news is next on channel 6 and "action news" continues at 10:00 on phl 17 with brian taff and shirleen allicot and ducis rogers and please join us for a special health check report here on channel 6, a simple looking head set but a lehigh company says it's the most accurate concussion tester yesterday. ali gorman has that report at 11:00. i'm jim gardner, we hope you'll join us for "action news" at 11:00.

you need blinds. you know it. your neighbours know it. complete strangers passing by your house know it. don't be that house. do something about it. during blinds to go's 60th anniversary sale going on now. buy one, get a second at half price. blinds to go blinds for life. to prove a point about internet speeds, we slowed down an up escalator. why is this thing so slow? it's not moving i don't get it, this one is working can you move please? look how fast they're going ladies, shouldn't up be as fast as down? yeah. do your socks match? my socks match.. do your eyeballs match? yes. shouldn't internet speeds match as well? definitely they should it's kind of a no brainer, right? yeah why can't everything just be the same speed? i got a little secret to tell you. cable does not match the speeds. it makes you wanna go mad. only verizon fios comes with speedmatch upload speeds as fast as your download speeds. join now at fiosspeedmatch.com get a fios triple play atan amazing price guaranteed for two years when you sign up online.

sign up now and get $300 back and as an extra bonus from verizon wireless a free lg tablet, or up to $200 off any tablet. go to fiosspeedmatch.com today! are you downloading what i'm uploading? call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v your windows don't need a facelift. just a new wardrobe. take them shopping during blinds to go's 60th anniversary sale going on now. buy one get second at half price. blinds to go is 60. boy, time goes fast. and so will this sale. blinds to go blinds for life.

welcome to "world news tonight," the breaking news, the death of joan rivers. word now of an investigate, what her daughter is now saying. plus our interview with the comic legend, what she said about johnny carson, the moment that broke her heart, taking me inside her new york apartment. also breaking, one of the most wanted men in the world. who is the american man allegedly helping isis with their terror? is he the man behind so many of their videos raised right here in america. severe storms on the move tonight. flash floods, drivers stranded and this evening the new hurricane gaining strength. and the shark attack, the two young women in their kayaks when the shark takes a bite, flipping the kayaks over. what happens next.