As shootings in Raleigh rise in 2022, police chief talks strategies, response
More people have been killed in Raleigh this year than by this time in either of the previous two years, Raleigh Police Department data show.
There have been 24 homicide victims, with 21 of them dying from being shot. A total of 69 people have been shot so far this year, according to data provided to The News & Observer.
In 2021, there were 33 homicides, including 28 who were fatally shot.
She called a news conference to provide statistics on crime in the second quarter of 2022 — April to June — and to discuss the city’s efforts to combat the rising violence. She spoke a day after the police department and federal authorities announced a joint initiative to address crime in the city. Twenty-seven people have been indicted in that effort.
“I want to be clear to those who are committing violence in Raleigh: You will be identified, and you will be brought to justice,” Patterson said.
Patterson’s statistics included information on homicides, robberies and aggravated assaults. The year-to-date killings are higher than the 17 victims during the same time period in 2021 and 14 victims in 2020.
The data presented Wednesday didn’t include the five people fatally shot over five days last week.
In 57% of the shootings, the suspects and victims knew each other, Police Chief Estella Patterson said Wednesday, though they may not have been a result of domestic violence.
“They are not random acts of violence,” she said.
It’s significant, the chief said, that no homicides in the second quarter happened at a night club, which she had announced last year would be getting special patrols. According to police data, about 14% of the shootings occurred at bars, nightclubs or sweepstakes parlors.
Patterson said the gun violence seen in Raleigh mirrors trends across the country.
“I think people are on edge coming out of a pandemic,” she said. “I think we have mental health issues that are also contributing to that. I believe also too what we’re facing as a nation: the war in Ukraine, inflation, gas prices. All those things coupled together, I think results in people wanting to solve their disputes or their issues with gun violence rather than just maybe taking a pause, stepping back, and then re-approaching the situation.”
Arrests made, weapons seized
Eleven of this year’s homicides have been cleared by arrest, police Lt. Jason Borneo wrote in an email.
“Please note that homicide investigations take time, and our clearance rate average between 2012 and 2021 is 91.5%,” he wrote. “In 2021, we cleared 97% of our homicide cases.”
Police have made arrests in three of the seven homicides in the second quarter, and investigators have leads in other cases, Patterson said.
The department also seized 271 guns in the second quarter, an increase from 203 a year ago, and 144 two years ago.
“I continue to be astonished by the by the number of firearms that we are seeing in this city,” Patterson said.
A total of 132 people were assaulted with a firearm — up from 84 victims reported three years ago before the pandemic, representing a nearly 60% increase since then. There were 131 firearm assault victims reported in the same period a year ago
With 120 vacancies, staffing remains a concern, but the Police Department is increasing recruitment efforts. A class of officers recently graduated and is training in the field, and another class will begin in October.
“We have not missed calls; priority calls are still being answered,” Patterson said of the staffing shortage.
.
The chief cited “intelligence-led policing strategies” to crack down on problematic locations, noting the 1600 block of New Bern Avenue as a site of “repeated violence and nuisance activities.”
A teenager was shot in the head and died on that block in April, and a man who was shot nearby in May also died from his injuries.
A man was shot and killed last week on the same street three miles away outside a gas station, The N&O reported.
Community violence intervention program
The chief cited Raleigh’s collaborative community violence intervention initiative, which she has championed alongside Raleigh-Apex NAACP director Gerald Givens as a long-term solution to gun violence.
Raleigh city leaders approved spending $2 million for the community violence intervention initiative.
A total of $1.3 million annually would fund the program with another $700,000 to create an Office of Violence Prevention within the city.
The program, advocated for by North Carolinians Against Gun Violence and Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence, will take a comprehensive and holistic approach to gun violence prevention.
The program is in its early stages, Givens said. Wake County will be asked to match the city’s $2 million investment.
The bipartisan Safer Communities Act signed by President Joe Biden includes $250 million for programs like this in the country, Givens said.
Gun violence last year
Raleigh saw a significant rise in gun violence in 2021.
In addition to the 28 people fatally shot, another 131 people were shot and survived, compared to 105 non-fatal shootings in 2020 and 99 in 2019.
There also were 499 aggravated assaults involving guns last year, Patterson previously told the Raleigh City Council.
That was a 35% increase in assaults from 2020 and a 74% increase from 2019.
This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 1:58 PM.
