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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe bullets stopped: Omaha neighborhood sees 57 gun crimes in 2010-2014, none in 2015. Why?
Last edited Tue Apr 12, 2016, 08:54 AM - Edit history (3)
http://dataomaha.com/bigstory/story/71/news/the-bullets-stoppedHard to get a good excerpt here; it's a moderately good piece of reporting based on data about the use of data.
The 57 gun crimes left leaders of the Bedford Place neighborhood fed up. They wondered: Will this ever end?
The answer, as it turns out, is yes. Last year, not a single gun crime was reported. Not one.
The situation shows how highly localized the problem of Omahas violence can be. It also shows that violence is not always intractable that a neighborhood and law enforcement, working together, can make a community a safer place to live.
The turnaround in this small section of Bedford Place was prompted by several events:
» A longtime neighbor made an official complaint about a bar and known gang hangout, leading city officials to shut it down.
» Residents, businesses and police joined forces to kick troublemakers out of the outdoor areas where they gathered at night.
» Police deployed new technology to provide improved information on when and where gun crimes happened, which let police better position their resources to trouble spots.
Its been 18 months since a report of shots fired came from the area. In that time, residents say the biggest problems have been unshoveled sidewalks and unmowed lawns.
The answer, as it turns out, is yes. Last year, not a single gun crime was reported. Not one.
The situation shows how highly localized the problem of Omahas violence can be. It also shows that violence is not always intractable that a neighborhood and law enforcement, working together, can make a community a safer place to live.
The turnaround in this small section of Bedford Place was prompted by several events:
» A longtime neighbor made an official complaint about a bar and known gang hangout, leading city officials to shut it down.
» Residents, businesses and police joined forces to kick troublemakers out of the outdoor areas where they gathered at night.
» Police deployed new technology to provide improved information on when and where gun crimes happened, which let police better position their resources to trouble spots.
Its been 18 months since a report of shots fired came from the area. In that time, residents say the biggest problems have been unshoveled sidewalks and unmowed lawns.
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The bullets stopped: Omaha neighborhood sees 57 gun crimes in 2010-2014, none in 2015. Why? (Original Post)
Brickbat
Apr 2016
OP
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,632 posts)1. Good for that neighborhood!
Residents and the police need to work together and when they do, this is the sort of outcome they get. New technology doesn't hurt, either.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)2. Unfortunately, the article doesn't say whether the crime moved when troublemakers moved.
Still, interesting.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)5. I would assume so.
But it's good for that community, anyway.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)3. Morning kick.
I will admit the "new technology" seems a little invasive. OTOH, it's there to detect one thing -- the sound of a gunshot -- and it's a big part of collecting clean data.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)4. Afternoon kick for reducing gun violence.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)6. One last evening kick for some data-driven info for reducing gun violence in a specific area.
Of course, not everything will work for every area. And there are plenty of other options to consider as well.