RECENT COMMENTS
Police response to New Year’s gunfire complaints
A comment from Sector 111’s Lieutenant Minton on the random gunfire that such a large part of New Year’s Eve in certain areas of town:
We are well aware of the problem of random gunfire on New Year’s Eve. We make an appeal to the public to act responsibly on New Year’s Eve – no gunfire, don’t drink and drive.
Almost every available officer – up to and including our chief and his senior officers – are on patrol that evening. We focus on random gunfire in particular (As you probably know, a young boy was killed by a falling bullet in Chesterfield County last July 4th so, the problem can turn deadly).
Our crime analysts use historical data to pinpoint the problem geographic areas. We use that analysis to position our officers in those areas. And still the problem persists.
It only take a few seconds for someone to step outside, shoot a weapon into the air, and then step back inside. If more citizens take an interest in the problem and report the gunfire as it happens, that gives us real-time information we can act upon.
I got this exact same boilerplate email, followed by one stating that random shootings across the city are actually down. What’s down is REPORTS OF RANDOM SHOOTINGS. So I guess we were all hallucinating…?
@1, hey I reported every shot I heard. If others did not, so the police think they are down, I can’t help it. I was right on the phone to 911 when I was sure it was gunfire.
Maybe what we need to do come the next time (Fourth of July maybe?) is remind everyone to CALL the POLICE when you hear gunfire.
I’ve read a couple of news reports that RPD says that celebratory gun fire in CH was down 20% this year. They are basing that statistic on the number of phone calls they received reporting gun fire. I will admit, I did not call the police to report the gun fire I heard on New Years Eve. If I’d been able to report a specific location, I would have called, but I could not. From now on, I will call every time I hear guns going off. There is no way that there was less gun fire this year than in previous years.
This article is really interesting. I thought the gun fire was normal for living in church hill/the city? I didn’t call the police because its pretty much expected every new years. Was anyone really surprised by the gunfire this year? I just know to stay inside the 15 minutes right after the ball has dropped! I do concern, who calls is not a good way to judge the gunfire. Was I supposed to call after I heard 1 shot, 25 shots, or 234?
I, too, will call next year. I think we have become complacent about this, just saying “it’s part of New Year on the Hill.” But after reading comments and also listening to the recording on the Hills and Heights blog (which is downright scary), I won’t be complacent about it again. http://hillsandheights.org/2014/01/02/new-years-eve-southside-style-aka-a-lot-of-freaking-gunshots/
From close to Chimborzo Park:
C11+ sporadic gunfire
C12- to C1+ it sounded like a war zone
C1+ to C3+ sporadic gunfire
I appreciate the intentionality in response noted by the letter, utilizing the analysts to pinpoint the best areas to focus resources. The truth is, he’s right; it’s a tough issue to deal with, because someone can indeed shoot and then step back inside.
I remember the first new years in my current home, my housemate and I heard a shot, and laughed it off as a “Welcome to Church Hill” moment. Turns out it was the sound of the first homicide of the year. I’ve been calling shots in ever since, even if it’s hard to pinpoint.
This is a tough problem to crack. Maybe the police can begin a media campaign prior to July 4th and New Year’s making the public aware of the dangers of this activity. This is an activity of pure ignorance. Also, if the police were able to apprehend one of the culprits and charge them to the hilt to set an example to deter future bad behavior, this may have a positive impact.
However, I believe getting a message like this out to the probable culprits is difficult in and of itself. As Rush Limbaugh says, “Low information voters” are the least likely to tune into anything remotely educational.
Don’t live on the Hill, but have heard shots in my neighborhood before. Always call it in. The dispatchers will determine your location and ask your opinion of which direction the shots came from. They’ll also ask how many, whether you heard multiple weapons, etc. The cops need something to respond to before they can make arrests.
Meanwhile, this whole phenomenon is absolutely the height of ignorance and self-absorption, and I have no words for it.
Maybe Richmond can get in on ShotSpotter like D.C.:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/shotspotter-detection-system-documents-39000-shooting-incidents-in-the-district/2013/11/02/055f8e9c-2ab1-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_story.html?hpid=z1
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20131106-shotspotter-helps-washington-d-c-police-track-gunshots
I absolutely agree that’s it a tough crime to address. I also agree that I was complacent this year. I was not surprised by the gunfire but I was surprised that it was significantly worse than recent years and then amazed when I read that the gunfire was reported as down by 20%.
I didn’t not call out of complacency. I didn’t call out of Apathy. There’s a big difference. I’ve heard enough shots at 2:35am with no sirens behind them to know that nobody cares and nobody’s going to do anything. For that matter, the guy with the gun knows nobody’s going to do anything.
I wrote an email and addressed it to the mayor’s office, Cynthia Newbille, the RPD, the State Police, NBC12 and the Times Dispatch. NBC12 expressed an interest and as I said above, the RPD gave me the same blandly worded response with absolutely no solution for next year. Silence from all others.