Comments on: Shooting, dealing, and no response from 911

By: Roy

Roy — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:06:10 +0000

Caitlin,
I just moved into a house in the 2000 block of National. Honestly, it is a quiet block. I did hear gun fire the weekend of the fourth and it made me quite nervous eventhough it was not in the immediate area. The neighbors that I have met are very nice and are very diverse which is a plus. They (we) look out for eachother which is another plus. If you buy, that is one less house that is unoccupied and another good neighbor on the block. Hopefully, with the development of White Oak and the need to attract paying customers who want to feel safe, things will continue to improve.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:26:04 +0000

Whoa… I just read the entire string of posts and I am pissed. I live on the Henrico side and have always had police respond when I call. There are a host of problems noted above and the only way to stop the madness is for the community to take action. OMG – bullet holes in a little girl’s bedroom wall above her head, shooting at someone’s dog, unanswered 911 calls. We definitely need to utilize the suggestion of call logs and get a phone tree going to report crimes – drug deals, shootings, break-ins and definitely animal cruelty! I used to live in both the Fan and then Northside. Both neighborhoods had the neighborhood patrol (in cars) and it worked well. It’s not hard to set-up – just need volunteers, walkie-talkies (or you can use cell phones).

By: john_m

john_m — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:18:26 +0000

One of the interesting resources of this site is the crime data and crime map, via Richmond Crime using the data published by the Richmond City Police Department.

By: caitlin

caitlin — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:11:42 +0000

I’ve been doing research on this area because I’ve recently found a house for sale that seems promising in the neighborhood. I’ve been through the neighborhood at night and didn’t see any suspicious activity but then I came across this site. I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the area around the 2000 block of National Street. Do things like this happen around there as well? Thank you to anyone who is willing to give me any information!

By: edg

edg — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:37:13 +0000

I just spoke with the Police Department and received an email concerning this incident. The Operations Manager for the 911 center indicated that she had been contacted by Lt. Laino on 6/29 to investigate this incident. The following are the results of the investigation:

“On June 29, 2008, from 23:08 to 23:12 hours the 911 center received 26 phone calls for the Salem Street incident. Four of the calls were what we call abandoned, meaning that either the caller hung up before the line was answered or due to the call volume the incoming lines were busy. Thirteen of these calls were entered into our computer system (CAD) for this particular event.”

Maybe the lost calls were just a fluke. She really sound sincere and the dedication of the department to serve all members of the community.

By: edg

edg — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:20:35 +0000

It is absolutely unacceptable that 911 goes unanswered. Also unacceptable is the lack of response; especially if you have been told someone will show up.

Push this issue to highest level possible (police chief? Mayor? above?) DO NOT ACCEPT lack of response to 911.

I live in Church Hill and I have never had this problem. We cannot allow segments of the city to be ignored by the police.

By: Brandonkjaycox

Brandonkjaycox — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:58:55 +0000

This incident happend two doors down from me. I spoke with the man whoes home it happend in front of. He said a few bullets actually came through his house. One hit the wall just above his daughter’s head while she was asleep.
He described this with more than a little distress.

The police were already in the area because someone had reported hearing gun shots about 20 minutes earlier. They were able to respond very quickly.

I feel the same about calling 911. It seems ponitless, but it really can make a difference!

By: B Jaycox

B Jaycox — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:27:54 +0000

Test

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:04:27 +0000

So when is the next Neighborhood Watch meeting?

By: carlisle ave

carlisle ave — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:27:21 +0000

The police cannot fix what is wrong with our neighborhood. For eight years we’ve been asking them how we can help and their only solution is to tell us to dial 911.

I’ve dialed 911 at least a hundred times in 8 years. I don’t think it has made a difference. Sadly, we’ve become used to the gunshots and only call 911 if it sounds like it is on our block.

I will say 911 operators have always answered my calls. One told me not to worry about the gunshots if they were fired in rapid succession. She said it was probably someone just testing out to decide if they wanted to buy it. (puh-leez!)

I think if we work toward erradicating poverty we will be a healthier and happier community overall.