Chattanooga free of homicides for almost a month now

photo Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher talks with the Times Free Press editorial board Friday on the state of the city's law enforcement.

Chattanooga has gone almost a month without a homicide.

Today marks 28 days without a homicide in the city -- 23-year-old Jeffery Jackson, the last murder victim, was stabbed and died July 27.

The last time the city went this long without a slaying was in February, when there were none between Feb. 1 and March 1. There have been 20 homicides so far in Chattanooga this year -- already one more than in all of 2013.

It's hard to say exactly what is driving the sudden calm, but both Chattanooga police and community leaders say the lull is an encouraging sign.

"We hope it continues," said Capt. Tommy Woods.

He thinks the department's increased focus on officer visibility in neighborhoods and the use of predictive analytics may have helped the situation.

"Our shootings have gone down, we've increased visibility, we're really trying to get into the neighborhoods," Woods said. "Once you get into the neighborhoods you can get a vibe of what is going on."

The police department is ramping up efforts with what police call focused deterrence. The idea is to identify potential and past trouble spots and then send extra officers to those spots to help stop crime before it happens. Visibility can be a powerful crime deterrent.

"That might be driving some of this reduction," Woods said.

The city also rolled out its Violence Reduction Initiative in March -- the program is focused on reducing gun violence by offering the city's most violent criminals a choice between getting help or going to jail.

Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher said during a recent Times Free Press editorial board that the program seems to be working. Shootings are down more than 20 percent compared with this time last year, Fletcher said, and the number of shootings that involve gang or group members is dropping.

"The percentage of shootings that we've identified as group member-involved since the rollout of VRI are down significantly as a ratio of all shootings," he said. "So both quantitatively -- by the metrics we have at our disposal, and qualitatively -- standing in front of people to whom we deliver the message -- everything seems to be working."

More than 50 people have accepted jobs through VRI, a factor that Vincent Boozer, who is working with Hope for the Inner City on the initiative, said can't be ignored.

"It's just a matter of getting them refocused on jobs, on education," he said. "I think that's why we're seeing a swing. When these guys have a lot of time and nothing to do, they get in trouble. We're changing that one by one, by getting these guys jobs and getting them involved in their education. We're just helping them find themselves."

Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.

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