Taking aim at gun violence
Mayor suggests publicity may give false impression of increased shootings; community policing may be a remedy
Gun violence isn’t going away. Weeks of shootings in Kokomo were followed by the latest school shooting, this time in Texas. People are fearful, saddened, angered. Everyone wants a solution, but the entire nation is divided on what form that should take.
For the Kokomo Police Department and Mayor Tyler Moore, it means picking up the pieces, following leads, searching for information, and eventually making arrests. And KPD has done a commendable job in that regard. Many of the shootings or gun-related incidents reported by the agency this year have resulted in arrests.
There have been a lot of shootings in Kokomo so far this year; seven in May alone. While Moore hasn’t reviewed the statistics, he proposed that part of the problem may be perception versus reality.
“Is it that the incidents have increased, or is it the reporting of them?” asked Moore. “The previous administration’s policy was the police department was not allowed to put press releases and reports out there.
“I’ve not gone through social media to see or looked at dispatch to see how many calls there have been. Yes, the Kokomo Police Department has been given more latitude to issue press releases in regard to incidents. So, it appears that it is increasing, but I’ve not gone back to see if that is true.”
The truth is gun violence is happening in Kokomo and the rest of the country, and people are more than concerned. But Moore asserted that a police department can only do so much to prevent incidents. They are reactive by nature.
“We could have 200 police officers, but if kids want to have guns, they’re going to find them,” said Moore. “If they think the only way to resolve a situation is to flex, so to speak, with a gun and shoot at each other, I don’t know that anybody has an answer on addressing the number of guns that get into kids’ hands.”
“The police department can only do their best, but if people want guns, they’re going to get them. To think that the police department or Howard County Sheriff’s Department isn’t doing all they can to deter gun violence would be disingenuous.”
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