Lauderhill holds ‘walk for peace,’ announces new technology to combat rising gun violence

Shira Moolten, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·5 min read
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Lauderhill officials and residents gathered at City Hall early Saturday morning to announce new efforts to combat gun violence at a planned rally less than two miles from where a 15-year-old boy was shot multiple times only hours earlier.

The event, organized by Lauderhill Commissioner Melissa Dunn, began with a ‘walk for peace’ to protest gun violence in the community, followed by a news conference announcing the police department’s acquiring of ShotSpotter technology that can sense gunfire.

The technology was coincidentally used earlier that Saturday morning when the boy was shot on the 5900 block of Northwest 21st Avenue, according to Lauderhill Police. He was out of surgery Saturday afternoon and in stable condition.

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“Unfortunately, we just had a shooting this morning involving a 15 year old,” Lauderhill Police Chief Constance Stanley said as she announced the technology. “Thank God, he’s still alive. And I pray that it stays that way.”

Lauderhill has experienced an increase in violent crimes involving firearms over the past decade, even as the overall crime rate decreased. In 2020, the city had nearly 300 firearm-involved crimes, more than double the amount in 2010, according to data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The same trend has occurred across Broward County.

Saturday’s event also comes less than a week after a Memorial Day shooting on the Hollywood Broadwalk injured nine people. The shooting arose out of an altercation between two groups, police said. So far, a shooter has not been arrested.

In speeches, Lauderhill residents and officials discussed potential solutions to the rise in gun violence across the city, some criticizing a new state law that goes into effect in July that will allow people to carry guns without permits. The legislation, officials fear, could exacerbate the city’s gun problem, but as they don’t have the power to regulate guns, they must combat the violence in other ways.

“We have seen in the state of Florida, just recent legislation that passed that makes it even easier for people to access guns,” Dunn said in a speech before a crowd of at least a hundred people. “Now unfortunately, at the local government level, we are prevented from making legislation that can limit access to guns in our community. In fact, as local elected officials, if we were to propose a resolution or an ordinance to limit access to guns, we could go to jail.”

Instead, the city is focusing on better policing, cracking down on high-crime locations, and programs that address the “root cause of violence,” Dunn said.

The police department obtained the ShotSpotter technology in April, Stanley announced. The technology includes sensors that detect gunfire, allowing police to respond to shootings faster, without requiring someone to report them, circumventing a common problem in the community. The technology has made police officers even more aware of how many shootings go unreported.

“We have quite a number of people that fail to call,” Stanley said. “For whatever reason, either they assume someone else is calling, or they don’t want to go get involved. But we need your participation, we need for you to get involved.”

Over the past year, city officials have also begun to crack down on places like corner stores where crimes frequently occur, after an ordinance proposed by Commissioner Lawrence Martin that requires businesses to maintain a “certain level of peace” to keep a business license.

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“It’s the carrot or the stick,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “If you work with us, we will give you all the resources you need to be a successful store, we want your stores clean, we want the landscaping to be on point, and you’re going to get more customers. A lot of them took advantage of that.”

When owners don’t comply, “that’s when the stick comes down,” Martin said, and code enforcement and police get involved. So far, it seems to be working.

“I’ve had more community people say, ‘I’ve not felt safe to go to that store until now,’ ” he said.

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Several people also spoke on the need to address larger social and cultural issues that contribute to gun violence.

“What I’m finding is, people, instead of trying to resolve conflict, they resort to violence,” Stanley said.

Joanette Brookes-George, a member of the community and a professor of criminal justice at St. Thomas University, agreed. The pandemic added to an existing ‘culture of fear,’ she said, isolating people and making it more difficult for them to trust one another when they returned to normal life.

“We’ve moved to a place where there’s ‘normal-lessness,’ ” she told the Sun Sentinel. “COVID told us we can’t connect because connection would be fatal.”

People have an increasing urge to “protect me before you attack me,” she added. “And so it’s quicker and easier for us to pull a gun because of course we have access to it. So people pull the gun and shoot first and ask questions after.”

Gun violence has become a growing problem among young people in particular over the past few years, Stanley told reporters in response to questions about the shooting earlier in the day.

“Unfortunately we have seen an increase in that, and I just think they don’t understand the consequences,” Stanley said.

She stressed the need for adult mentors, especially in schools. A counselor started a mentorship program at one of the local schools, Stanley said, and she now serves as one.

“There was a waiting list for kids wanting to have mentors,” she added. “There should be enough of us to go around to mentor these kids.”

It remains unclear what led to the shooting of the 15 year old. Police had no information on any suspects Saturday afternoon.