A recent case that made big headlines was at the center of much of that conversation: the kidnapping and murder of Kada Scott.
Several city officials brought up the case, questioning why the suspect was on the streets after he was accused of separate violent and threatening incidents.
Some city leaders say something went wrong, and their goal now is to make sure no victims of domestic violence fall through the cracks.
"To the Scott family, I apologize because as a colleague said, the city let you down," said City Coucilmember At-Large Jim Harrity.
Kada Scott's father sat in the front row during the hearing on domestic violence.
"I appreciate the process. It's making the whole situation transparent," said Kevin Scott.
The Philadelphia Police Department responds to 100,000 domestic violence calls each year. This hearing is the result a resolution to examine the strategies, laws and policies for protecting victims.
That resolution was introduced by Council President Kenyatta Johnson. During the hearing, he pressed District Attorney Larry Krasner on a previous case involving the suspect in Kada Scott's murder, Keon King, and whether Krasner called a judge to ask for a higher bail in a previous case that involved King.
Some argue it would have kept King off the streets before Kada Scott's disappearance and murder.
"Did you make the call?" asked Johnson. "Did you even attempt to make the call?"
"We did not call... relatively speaking, it was a high bail," replied Krasner, who explained that King's bail had been set at $200,000, which is higher than a typical bail for the case that king was accused in at the time.
Krasner explained to the committee that some judges that are on-call to take overnight calls are not only less likely to grant requests to increase bail, he said they are also more likely to reduce bail if they take exception to being called in the middle of the night.
Some councilmembers present, though, disagreed with that decision.
"There's no way anyone who strangled and kidnapped a woman, anyone, should have just been out," said Councilmember Cindy Bass.
Philadelphia police were also part of the conversation on domestic violence, with commissioner Kevin Bethel discussing plans for a new database.
"High-risk case are flagged for immediate intervention and entered into a lethality database for tracking," said Commissioner Kevin Bethel.
The district attorney's office also detailed initiatives that include a weekly domestic violence law enforcement review and efforts to create a domestic violence offender unit.
City leaders share the same hope that Kada Scott's family has: to never let a tragedy like theirs happen to anyone else.
"Hopefully Kada's case creates awareness for the whole city, puts pressure on the people, the powers that be that can make the changes," said Kevin Scott.
Local domestic violence organizations also spoke at Tuesday's hearing. One of the goals of the District Attorney's office is to get more funding for those organizations.
Councilmembers also asked a lot of questions about how the city could do a better job at supporting survivors of domestic violence.