St. Paul leaders listen to community members about unprecedented year of violence
Community members and leaders gathered to discuss gun violence. (FOX 9)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Community members in St. Paul say they want to take their city back after a year of unprecedented gun violence.
The start to 2020 has not been much better either.
There was a packed house to discuss the matter at Mount Olivet Baptist Church in St. Paul Wednesday night, so much so that organizers had to bring in extra chairs to fit everyone.
They wanted to be there because there has already been three homicides in the city so far this year, including one Tuesday night.
“We know it ain’t right what’s happening in the neighborhood, so the only way we can fix it is get together and someone comes up with a solution with how to fix it that will work for everybody,” said Ernset Dailey, a St. Paul resident.
Organizers asked two questions at the beginning of the meeting. The first asked if anyone there knows someone who has been shot. About half of the people raised their hands.
Then, more than half the room raised their hands when asked if they had ever been to a vigil for someone who had died due to violence.
Speakers included Mayor Melvin Carter, St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher and more.
Those in the crowd submitted questions for the speakers to answer. They mostly wanted to know what is being done to tackle gun violence and how they can help be part of the solution.
Chief Axtell said it’s a three-pronged approach: Prevention, intervention and enforcement.
“We have realigned a lot of our resources, we have redirected investigators into our homicide unit to make sure we have some of the highest clearance rates in the country for homicides,” Axtell said.
The attendees emphasized how important community involvement and support are when it comes to dealing with gun violence.