By Beverly N. Williams, Newport News Daily Press
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Many people in the East End fear walking to the store because of crime, and hearing gunshots at night has become a fact of life.
That’s unacceptable to law enforcement leaders in Newport News, who said Friday that they plan to get guns off the streets and make the East End safe again for the people living there.
“We have a gun problem and we have a violent crime problem,” Police Chief James Fox said in a press conference at the Southeast Community Weed and Seed Office on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and 22nd Street.
The office used to be a laundry building for people living in the Newport Harbour Apartments, but the complex’s owners renovated it and donated it to the city for its Weed and Seed site.
The Weed and Seed Program gets people involved in fighting crime in their communities, said Capt. Susie Mowry, commander of the Police Department’s south patrol. Working with law enforcement and city government officials, Mowry said, they “weed out” undesirable elements and replace them with programs aimed at improving the neighborhood with an emphasis on prevention, intervention and treatment services.
There’s no name or acronym for the crime-fighting effort unveiled Friday. But Fox and Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn said it centers on building trust and improving communications between the Southeast Community and the police.
Fox said this means revamping the police department and running it more efficiently. Fox and Gwynn will also hold a public meeting Oct. 2 to discuss crime in the city.
So far this year, there have been fewer homicides in the city than in 2003 - 15 compared with 20 in the same period last year. Through August, city police seized 339 guns, compared with 462 in 2003. In the last 12 months, police have received 2,085 reports of shots fired, Fox said.
“But how many did not call because they hear it every night?” the chief asked. “People shouldn’t have to hear gunshots every night.”
Gwynn, who grew up less than 10 minutes from the Weed and Seed office, is passionate about ridding the city of crime.
“I bring a unique perspective to this,” he said. “I know what Newport News was and I know what it can be.
“When I was a kid, you could walk anywhere without fear,” he said. “It’s a tragedy that people can’t sit on their porches and old people can’t walk to the store.”