DETROIT (WXYZ) — According to a recent statistic, Wayne County's violent crime reduction initiative has led to more than 300 arrests and over 50 illegal guns seizures in Wayne County.
The initiative began earlier this year and still, law enforcement and the community agree that more must be done.
In the heart of Wayne County, there’s an unmistakable urgency to solve the problem of shootings and murders. The Detroit Police Department is calling the problem an epidemic.
“In the last three weeks, I have seen two 15-year-olds arrested for having a gun. I have seen a young man die in the street. (Saturday) night, an 11-year-old shot at a sleepover,” Sandra Turner-Handy said.
Turner-Handy leads the 9th Precinct Community and Relations Council in Detroit.
“What alternatives are we providing?” she asks.
Turner-Handy supports a new effort to file federal charges against felons who use guns to commit crime.
Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington has spent years fighting crime with Detroit police. He says prevention is badly needed in the form of stopping guns from falling into the wrong hands along with mentoring our youth.
Washington said he was mentored when he was about 10 years old. He launched initiatives to do both, while strategizing with sheriffs in Oakland and Macomb counties weekly.
“We’re dealing with our young people in a way to let them know they can be successful and creating a pathway for them to do so,” Washington said.
Washington is now promoting an upcoming expungement fair to help former non-violent offenders restart their lives and avoid turning back to guns and crime.
On the federal level, the head of the Detroit division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has responded to more than 100 murders this year in the city. It has authorities frustrated.
“You want to be out there. You want to be stopping this,” Detroit ATF Special Agent in Charge Paul Vanderplow said.
The city has had more than 300 shootings so far this year. Police are focused on the 8th and 9th precincts, which have led in violent crime.
But guns coming to Michigan and recent mass shootings happening nationwide have the ATF issuing a warning:
- Keep guns secure
- Report anyone behaving in a threatening manner
- Gun shop owners and individual sellers need to make sure they’re careful who they sell firearms to
“If you do nefarious things with firearms, there’s going to be a crew coming after you, and that crew is mine,” Vanderplow said.
Both the sheriff and ATF will follow up on anyone selling guns illegally. They want the community to contact them right away if someone is breaking the law.
