LUBBOCK, Texas– As summer is in full swing, Lubbock Police said this is the time of year they also see an uptick in violent crime.
Since the beginning of July, LPD has responded to seven violent shootings. Three shootings were deadly, including early Thursday morning when police said an 18 year-old was killed in the second of two overnight shootings in East Lubbock.
“Recently, with the violent crimes we have had in the last few weeks, we have been throwing resources at that,” Lubbock Interim Police Chief Jerry Brewer said.
As the city’s population grows, Brewer said they’ve seen the crime levels remain the same. However, its a pattern to see increases in the summer.
The department strengthened its efforts over the past few years to create departments and partnerships addressing violent crime. This included the Texas Anti-Gang Center, Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit and their partnership with Project Safe Neighborhood.
Typically these violent crimes are associated with high risk activity involving drugs, money, or weapons, he added.
“Recently we have been talking about 18-year-olds but we have seen ages across the board,” Brewer said. “It’s summer time, more people are out, the days are longer, school’s not in session.”
Jeff Griffith, the mayor pro-tem and city councilman for District Three, said the city is fighting crime by providing funding to new police substations in the works.
“We want the citizens to be aware that this is up and coming,” Griffith said. “We are one of the largest cities that don’t have substations. We only have the building (on Broadway) and that’s long overdue.”
In addition to the efforts by LPD and the city, Brewer said it takes a community to instill change.
“Our business is about catching the bad guy and participating in that area of the criminal justice system,” Brewer said. “There’s other members of this community that have a stake in the future of the youth and I think it probably needs to come together.”
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