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New London mayor reacts to series of deadly crimes

NEW LONDON — A series of deadly crimes in New London has community leaders speaking out. New London Mayor Michael Passero addressing the rash of crimes fo...

NEW LONDON -- A series of deadly crimes in New London has community leaders speaking out.

New London Mayor Michael Passero addressing the rash of crimes for the second time, Monday night. Mayor Passero sent out a statement last week calling the violence, "unacceptable."

His statement reads in part:

"As a community, we deeply regret the loss of life and express our condolences to the families and friends of the victims. Thankfully, in each of these tragic incidents, the general public was never at risk. Our City is safe and the New London Police Department has done a remarkable job investigating and swiftly resolving these crimes."

Police are investigating a fatal stabbing that took the life of Travon Brown, 37, Sunday. Police said there was no indication it was a random attack. Detectives are using surveillance video to help in their investigation.

Two people were killed in New London last weekend. Police arrested Patrick McInerney, 43, of New London, on Sunday in connection with the stabbing of Robert Pomerleau, 49, of New London.

On Saturday, Quvonte Andre Gray, 21 of Florida, was killed in a shooting. 

On November 28, New London Police arrested Metese Hinds for allegedly stabbing Raheeim General at 49 Blackhall Street in October.

At Monday's city council meeting the mayor reinforced the statement he made last week.

"Despite a couple of very tragic murders in the city, it was individual disputes and the general public was not at risk," he said.

City council members reiterated public safety saying these were isolated incidents.

"If we had 20 more cops on the street in the last week and a half it would not have stopped these types of situations from happening," President Pro Tempore Don Venditto, Jr. said. "It's important for people to understand these types of incidences are impossible for a police force to predict​,"

At Monday's council meeting, Mayor Passero said much of the crime in the city stems from other issues such as poverty, unemployment and the opioid crisis. He said the city has been proactively engaged in violence prevention with an inter-agency, multi-jurisdictional approach.

"This effort engages our police, fire prevention, health, human services and building departments in a collaborative effort that will identify causes and formulate methods and policies to mitigate conditions that lead to this type of violence," he wrote in a statement.

​According to Mayor Passero, there have been two more reported murders this year than last year. A total of four were reported in 2017 and two in 2016.

However, Passero said FBI data shows part one reportable crimes are down by nearly 6 percent. There's been a significant reduction in aggravated assaults by nearly 50 percent and burglaries in 20 percent, according to FBI statistics.

"We believe the statistics are showing that our approach, bringing human service elements into the picture, are starting to work," he said.

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