08-24-15 Health and Public Safety

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sEir S Chief add1ëSses gun violence By Erin Blasko inal increase in horni- action needs to be tak- to the violence. South Bend Tribune cides from this time last en to restrict the flow "That's right, they're year," Teachman said. of illegal guns into the desensitized, and they SOUTH BEND — "But when you look at community and to need to be sensitized," Police Chief Ron Teach- the data, we are encour- make it more difficult Teachman said. man addressed the aged that the Group Vi- for violent offenders to To that end, he said, Common Council on olence Initiative is hav- bond out of jail. police make an effort to the issue of gun vio- ing an impact." "What's discouraging, reach out to residents lence Monday in light of He noted that homi- quite honestly, to all of when violence occurs, a recent uptick in homi- cides are "not a very us in law enforcement to establish relation- cides in the city. accurate indicator of ...... is a bond schedule ships and build trust. Ten homicides were violence in a given city," 'that allows people to As a result, he said, committed in the city but rather "a function buy their way out of jail residents have become between January and of marksmanship and after committing a vio- more confident that if mid-June, compared emergency services." lent offense or being ap- they call, police will re- with 17 all of last year, "It's a matter of where prehended with a gun spond. despite efforts to ad- the bullet strikes and illegally," he said. That is reflected in dress gang-related gun how quickly the vic- The community also ShotSpotter data, he violence via a Group Vi- tim is given emergency has a role to play, he said, which shows that olence Initiative. medical care," he said. said. residents report gunfire "We've seen a de- At the same time, the "Every murder, every at a rate of about 33 crease in gang-related county Metro Homicide non-fatal shooting has percent now, compared gun violence," council Unit solves homicides a narrative that preced- with about 11 percent member Karen White, at a rate "way above the ed it where the shooter last June. D-at large, said. "Howev- national average," he indicated his intention "Still anemic, but er, we have experienced said. to shoot ... and no one it's showing progress," a number of homicides "However, solving calls" police, he said. Teachman said. in recent months ... How homicides is not satisfy- Council member Hen- do we address that?" ing," he said. "Prevent- ry Davis Jr., for his part, eblasko @sbtinfo.com "You are correct that ing a homicide is." suggested residents 574-235-6187 we are seeing a nom- To that end, he said, have become "numb" @ErinBlasko