RICHMOND, Va. -- Dozens of local and federal agency members walked door-to-door in Richmond's Highland Park Thursday evening for a community walk focused on combating violent crime.
While officials say crime is overall down in that area, it doesn’t mean their efforts are stopping. Just two weeks ago, officials said a man was murdered in Highland Park.
“I want the community to understand that we are not going anywhere,” said Mjr. Sybil El-Amin Jones with Richmond Police.
The group for the walk was made up of Richmond Police, The US Attorney’s Office, Virginia State Police, FBI, ATF and more.
Michael Talbert, the Acting Assistant Special Agent of the Washington Field Division, said they work daily with the street units and homicide units preparing and perfecting criminal cases and investigations in Richmond.
Officials said they have been focusing on this area over the last few years by working together in partnership at the local, state and federal level. A few years ago, this would’ve been one of the most violent areas in Richmond.
They feel that the partnership of agencies is part of why things are improving.
"We really focused on this community. We’re able to work together and have a calming effect on the community."
The agencies said their goal is to provide "a product" that removes the most violent people on the streets of Richmond so people can live in peace and have a nice quality of life.
On Thursday evening, they went door-to-door, focused on building trust, seeing what the need is and asking how their work has been doing.
“We are here to serve you. We are not here to be adversarial. We want to see the most successful lives,” said Michael Talbert the Acting Assistant Special Agent Washington Field Division.
All the agencies said the work will continue far after today. Jessica Aber, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said this work is essential.
“We want them to stand shoulder with us as we work to reduce violent crime in the city,” Aber said.
The agencies state they are in communication with other localities in Central Virginia. They note they are more than willing to work with other areas to do something similar.
