Under fire: Manchester tries new strategy for gun crime
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Jun. 5—Someone fires a gun in Manchester — maybe outside a house, or at a passing car or in a crowded neighborhood — and Allison Joseph starts one of the most important parts of her job.
As police search for the shooter, Joseph, director of My Turn's Project Connect, tracks down the intended victim. My Turn's goal is to break the cycle of gun violence in Manchester, where retaliation is expected — even essential for survival — on the city streets.
Time is key. Retaliation is most likely to occur 24 to 48 hours after shots are fired, she said.
When Joseph finds the victim — injured or not — the conversation starts.
"I give them my best pep talk," Joseph said. "The longer you can go, the less it seems like a good idea to go shoot somebody."
Project Connect, a loosely structured drop-in center for youth at risk for gun violence, is part of a multi-part strategy to reduce gun violence that Manchester police are expected to release this week.
The plan comes to a city under the gun.
In 2020, the number of gun-related crimes — everything from a robber waving a firearm to a person getting shot — topped 200 for the first time. While the number dipped last year, it hit the 100 mark during the first five months of this year, meaning that if the trend continues, the city could see an all-time high.
Even more concerning, the percentage of gun crimes that involved actual gunfire topped 40% last year and this year. (Most gunfire incidents don't involve anyone getting shot and are categorized as reckless conduct or attempted assault.)
"People are pulling the trigger more; that's alarming," said Lt. Matthew Barter, chief of staff to Police Chief Allen Aldenberg. So far this year, police have recovered or confiscated 68 guns.
Barter played a key role in developing the strategy, which was written with the help of other government agencies and nonprofit organizations associated with youth services, health, social service, criminal justice, law enforcement and prosecution.
Fears of targeting, profiling
Barter said police already have implemented some of the recommendations with promising results.
But critics say a key emphasis — police foot patrols in minority-heavy neighborhoods — will lead to surveillance and targeting of minorities.
And when police exercise leeway or leniency, people of color will be left out, fears Grace Kindeke, a program coordinator with two social justice organizations — the American Friends Service Committee and the Manchester Community Action Coalition.
"It does happen. It takes a lot of effort to mitigate that. It's how people are wired and the system that supports it," said Kindeke, who worked on the strategy.
Police already have gathered data that show Hispanics and Blacks are more likely to be involved in gun crime, either as perpetrators or victims, she noted. She fears that data will be used to target minorities.
Barter said that's not the case; the data are used to deliver prevention and diversion programs, not to profile offenders. Barter said Manchester police have mandated training for officers on topics such as profiling and cultural awareness.
The strategy, based on recommendations from the Council on Criminal Justice, include:
Hot-spot patrols: Hot spots are areas of the city where gun crime is clustered. These patrols are nothing new in Manchester, but the latest effort emphasizes foot patrols.
Focused policing: Every gunshot in Manchester — even a shot into the air — is investigated by detectives. Shot Spotter, noise detection technology, and the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network, which can match casings to guns, help in the effort.
Focus on place: Efforts include the Department of Public Works and city code officials cleaning and greening up the hot-spot neighborhoods. Also, community health workers have been hired to address community health concerns, domestic violence and neighborhood feuds.
Focus on youth: Manchester police say the initiatives focuses on shooters between the ages of 14 and 24. The strategy lists several organizations — Project Connect, the Boys and Girls Club, and Manchester Police Athletic League — that participate in efforts to steer youth away from violence.
Off-ramp from violence
Police said their research finds a core group of potential shooters. Four percent of the people whose names arise in shooting investigations — either as victims, witnesses or shooters — are connected to 63% of shooting cases.
Some of those "influencers" end up at My Turn's Project Connect, where they can enroll in alternative education and job assistance. They also can hang out at the Project Connect clubhouse.
About 300 Manchester youth have some sort of contact with My Turn. They tell Joseph they would prefer a lifestyle that doesn't involve violence, she said.
Little things — a social media taunt, a stolen piece of jewelry, non-payment for marijuana — can escalate quickly, she said. Once someone's house is shot, they feel the need to get a gun to protect themselves, Joseph said.
"It's not necessarily who they are at the core, but sometimes their lives depend on not looking like punks," she said.
Recent examples of youth with guns include Eduardo Vazquez Rivera, 19, who was shot in March and is charged with shooting a rival the following month, and the student-involved shooting outside Central High School in March.
Joseph has discussed the police department's new strategy with young people. Most say it doesn't go far enough; they think organizers should gather rival factions together and give them opportunities to talk.
She is researching methods of conflict resolution to do that safely.
Manchester has four or five "groups" of youth, Joseph said. They are multi-racial and ethnic and designate themselves with three-letter abbreviations. RCG and DRS are the best-known. They say they are not gangs, and deride that word as corny, Joseph said.
She said hard drugs such as heroin and fentanyl are not part of the youth gun culture. Marijuana is.
Guns are ubiquitous and easy to obtain, Joseph said. Often, a person will just borrow a gun from a friend, she said.
Barter said some guns come from local gun stores, often with a straw purchaser buying a gun on behalf of someone else. Others go through websites such as ArmsList, where the guns are cheaper and, because they are private sales, involve no paperwork.
"A lot of times, they're purchasing them perfectly legal the way the laws are right now," Barter said.
Stressing community
Meanwhile, Joseph has her own strategy to address gun violence. My Turn is promoting neighborhood events over the summer — the Chandler's Ball three-on-three basketball tournament, murals on center city buildings, and the Rock the Block PeaceFest at Beech Street Park.
The goal is to have an event each weekend in July in hot spot neighborhoods, she said.
Barter said similar strategies have been attempted in New York, Boston, Dallas and other cities — to varying degrees of success.
Police have developed an evaluation program that includes monthly reports to the team that devised the strategy.
"We'll have to see," he said, "if it works in Manchester."
