NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Editor's note: Video aired on May 18, during the afternoon.
2020 marked the most violent year in New Haven since 2012, with 20 homicides. The city is on pace to surpass that total this year. So, officials are rolling out a number of initiatives to address the uptick.
The 11th homicide, in just four and a half months, occurred near the intersection of Orange and George Streets, right near the Yale-New Haven Health Saint Raphael campus on Tuesday morning. The male victim was shot multiple times and died on the scene.
"His is name is Jack Hopeton," said Acting New Haven Police Chief Renee Dominguez. "He is a 44-year-old male, Waterbury resident, and originally from New York. However, he does have family ties to New Haven."
Saturday evening, a 20-year-old Bridgeport woman was shot and killed on Sheffield Avenue. And there were multiple other non-fatal shootings in New Haven over the past five days.
"We need the help of the community to stop the violence," said Dominguez. "To alert us to the information that can help us to take these guns off the street.
A recent gun buyback yielded 130 weapons and the police department has seized 61 guns. But it’s not enough, Dominguez conceded.
There are three components to the city's strategy in addressing this uptick in violence: law enforcement-based, violence interruption program, and rehabilitation.
"The law enforcement is a combination of engagement with parole and probation, the creation of a shooting task force, and the increase in police presence, in particular, walking beat and bicycle patrol officers in the neighborhoods," said Mayor Justin Elicker (D-New Haven).
Increasing the street outreach presence helps with violence interruption, Elicker says. However, the New Haven Police Union has concerns.
"This strategy by the Elicker administration shows how dire the situation on city streets has become," said Officer Florencio Cotto, President of the Elm City Local. "Our elected leaders were busy looting resources from the New Haven Police Department budget (current fiscal year) in the middle of a crime wave, and yet they’re asking cops to sacrifice more to help right a wrong. The criminal element within this city has strengthened. Even right now, the NHPD doesn’t have enough staffing to shift cops to one neighborhood without making another neighborhood less safe."
Elicker said rehabilitation is critical because there are roughly 900 people released from prison that come back to New Haven every year. The creation of a reentry welcome center, which opened over the winter in Fair Haven, is a key.
"Most importantly, connecting them to resources so that people can lead productive lives is vital to that strategy," Elicker added.
The New Haven Police Department will also be starting up a shooting task force, whose responsibilities will include cold cases. And thanks to a $750,000 federal grant, they are rolling out a Crime Intel center, which will incorporate the expertise of several federal agencies and local police departments in curbing violent crime.
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