ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke Police are seeing improvements when it comes to gun violence but they still want to continue building relationships with the community.
Roanoke saw zero homicides in the past 30 days. It’s the longest period the city has gone without one.
Capt. Jennifer Boswell with Roanoke Police is encouraged but can’t attribute the success to one thing.
“Something’s working,” Boswell said. “I don’t have one answer for you. I really think it’s all the work that everyone is doing.”
Part of the work is through RPD community forums. The forums are designed to allow people to talk about their concerns. On Wednesday, police hosted their third forum this year. This time the forum was held in the Northeast quadrant of the city.
Capt. Adam Puckett answered a slew of questions on Wednesday but most importantly, they were able to put names to faces in the department.
“Primarily what we’re trying to do is get back into the community the way we were before COVID and the way we were before some of the national incidents that happened. We’re trying to build that relationship and build a bridge between our department and them,” Puckett said.
Vice-Mayor Joe Cobb is hopeful the increase in community engagement opportunities is helping with the problem of gun violence.
“We’re seeing more of these community-based events emerging. And it’s bringing people together in a really powerful way,” Cobb said.
The issue is not over. From Jan. 1 to Oct. 15 of this year, there have been 56 cases of aggravated assaults or homicides where the victim was hit by gunfire. Twenty-two of those victims have been shot to death.
“We just got to work together,” Boswell said. “We just got to hear each other. It’s not just law enforcement. It’s not just municipal building. It’s not just churches. It’s all of it…just the collaboration.”
The next community forum will be in Southeast Roanoke in November.