Officers are stepping up enforcement efforts and asking the community for help in the attempt to curb an increase in shots fired around St. Joseph.
Police Chief Chris Connally with the St. Joseph Police Department said, so far this year, 681 shots fired calls have been reported. In 2016 there were 529. This year, around 90 bullets hit something such as a vehicle, house or person. That’s a 38.8 percent increase from 2016.
“We need to make sure we don’t have a casual attitude for firearms,” Connally said. “It’s not okay to practice shooting by shooting out of the window of a moving vehicle. That’s what firing ranges are for. It’s not acceptable to shoot guns off because someone is mad at their boyfriend or girlfriend when they go out there. It’s not okay for them to use that to intimidate or harass somebody.”
Connally said some of the shooting investigations are gang related and others are not. He said most of the shootings are between people who are known to each other.
“In nearly every case that we’ve run into the victims and suspects have previous involvement with each other,” Connally said. “Oftentimes we’re told by the victim that, ‘they do not know who the suspect is.’ Then we find out the names through some friend of theirs. We find out that the victim has told everybody else who the suspect is but the police.”
Connally said the police department will continue to pursue the cases regardless of cooperation from the victims.
“These are very difficult to prosecute. We know who most of the players are. Frequently they’ve had numerous contacts with law enforcement. Most of them we’ve arrested before,” Connally said. “If we cannot make the shooting case we will continue to pursue other criminal involvement that they’re involved in.”
Connally said, while shootings have been reported in different locations around St. Joseph, recently a lot of activity has been in the midtown area.
“We’re focusing on both locations where we’re seeing the behavior as well as individuals that we know that are involved in the behavior,” he said.
Police are asking for support from the community.
“We encourage members of our community to get involved in neighborhood groups,” Connally said. “For those who aren’t as comfortable coming forward there is Crime Stoppers. Please don’t hesitate to call the TIPS Hotline at 238-TIPS.”