Charlotte Police Turn To Violence Prevention To Counter Rise In Homicides

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“The trend is, we keep seeing some of these small conflicts escalate,” Chief Kerr Putney said at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s weekly briefing with reporters March 28, according to an Associated Press report. “What we’re trying to do is be proactive so we can keep… this lack of conflict resolution that leads to violence from occurring in the first place.”

Police will be focusing on removing illegal guns from the streets, targeting repeat offenders and focusing on hot spots for violence in the city, he said.

This time last year, there had been seven homicides, CMPD spokesman Keith Trietley told Charlotte Patch March 23.

“What we’re going to do is continue to analyze those who have escalated their violence in the past, trying to prevent some of these tragic outcomes,” Putney added.

So far this year, there have been 15 homicides by gun shots and five by knives. Charlotte police say they have made arrests in 15 of the 22 cases.

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