Updated 01/28/2009 08:10 AM
To help fight gun crime, police rework patrols
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GREENSBORO – Greensboro police are rolling out a new program to help curb gun crime throughout the city.
Dennis Hayle
Police say they've mapped out "hot spots” for gun activity where they say they will target their enforcement. One of those areas is where N.C. A&T senior Dennis Hayle was shot and killed Sunday.
“In the last seven days, the Greensboro Police Department has investigated three homicides. Two of those involved the use of a handgun,” Greensboro Police Chief Tim Bellamy said. "With that said, the police department staff and I have determined that the uses of firearms used in the commission of crime in Greensboro are increasing."
Police hope to combat the growing gun violence problem with the new maps, which indicate problem areas based on the number of shots fired. Bellamy said officers in those areas will increase visibility, increase traffic and investigative stops and respond to all calls involving shots fired.
But even with the new patrol methods, Capt. Charles Cherry said he's not sure Hayle's murder could have been prevented.
“Depending on what the motivation was – and we've yet to find that out, what the motivation was – it may have been something that the police couldn't control other than being there at the specific time to deter it,” said Cherry, commanding officer of the department's Eastern Division.
Even so, city council member Goldie Wells said something has to change.
“In District 2, I am deeply concerned because of the violence that we have in the district,” Wells said.
That's the reason she's organizing a community forum in the next few weeks to address some of the area's problems.
“We want to lay out some facts, of course, and present the facts,” Wells said. “Then, when people get together and the minds, great minds – they may have some solutions or suggestions that we could pursue to make things better.”
And solutions are exactly what community leaders and police are hoping to find in the upcoming months. The violent crimes task force will canvass the area around Homeland Avenue Thursday evening. They're looking for information that could lead to an arrest in Hayle's murder.