Number of shootings in Daytona Beach is on the rise; what police are doing to address the issue.
Shootings in Daytona Beach are showing a trend; they seem to be happening in the same areas.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
Multiple shootings -- just days apart -- have led to a violent month in Daytona Beach.
Chief Jakari Young said he understands the concerns of the community.
“If you’re living in a community and you experience one shooting -- that one shooting is too many, so I get it,” Young said.
Data from January 1 to May 6 showed there have been six more shootings in Daytona Beach compared to that time last year.
Read: Man accused of killing maintenance worker at Sanford Islamic center will not face trial
Young said that while there is no way to know when a violent crime will happen, he has plans to keep it under control.
He pointed to the city’s most recent homicide on Hudson Street, where a 16-year-old was killed.
Investigators didn’t have a lot of evidence to work with because communities where crimes are happening lack the infrastructure police need to solve crimes.
“Let’s cut these bushes back, let’s add lights here, let’s add surveillance here,” Young said. " We could really benefit from tag readers at the entrance of a complex; all of those things act as a deterrence to crime.”
Some neighborhoods in the area remain nearly empty following last year’s hurricanes.
Cynthia Slayer with the NAACP is concerned that people living in other locations may lead to problems.
“Half of the homes are vacant; we don’t know where people are,” she said.
Read: Central Florida teen charged with felony for shooting family dog with BB gun
Police are aware of the issue, and they are working to increase their presence in those empty areas.
“Burglaries to the vacant apartments have ticked up,” Young said. “We are trying to hire detail officers to kind of cover those areas that have been vacated.”
Last year, Daytona Beach Police launched a unit called Violent Criminal Apprehension Team (VCAT). Young said he wasn’t planning to keep this unit running for a long time, but its success made it change his mind.
Read: Disney pulls the plug on its $1B Lake Nona campus in Orlando
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
