RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond faith leaders are pushing for Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith to pursue different methods to deal with the gun violence that the city is seeing.
Their call to action comes after seeing the numbers presented in the chief's quarterly briefing on Wednesday.
Smith said that homicides are down year-to-date for the third quarter. Despite this, he said aggravated assaults, which include non-fatal shootings, are up roughly 17% from the same window last year.
"We are doing everything we can as police," Smith said.
Richmond pastor, Ralph Hodge, believes that seeing the decrease in homicides isn't the test of how gun violence is being combated, but instead believes that the number of aggravated assaults shows the full picture.
On the other hand, another Richmond pastor, Valerie Coley, believes a decline in homicides is a step in the right direction and should be considered a small success.
According to RPD, fatal and non-fatal shootings of kids are down. Despite these promising numbers, Smith is calling on parents to do more following several recent incidents in the city.
"Parents need to play a bigger role in their kids' lives. Check their social media," Smith said.
To curb gun violence, these faith leaders have found approaches they believe will be effective in the community.
For Pastor Coley, this looks like a change in leadership. She said that those who she interacts with in the community have lost trust and believe that leadership doesn't look good. She also believes helping people find value in their lives can lead to a decrease in gun violence.
"Once that value is placed on that life, you're going to see a change," Coley said.
Pastor Hodge is hoping that change can be created if the city utilizes other city models that have used detailed problem analysis surveys and group violence intervention.
"Let's do the analysis first and then see what the data is and then target our interventions," Hodge said.
RPD believes they have had success at curbing crime this year based on specific initiatives Some of these include summer pop-ups and community events, gun buybacks, community meetings and community conversations, among other things.
A full briefing from the third quarter can be read here.
