CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Gun and gang violence is something every city in Hampton Roads is dealing with.
Wednesday in Chesapeake, city leaders came together to address what they call an alarming increase in that violence.
In 2021, more than 200 people were shot and killed across the seven cities, with 25 of them being in Chesapeake.
When Police Captain John Landfair asked the crowd how many people have been affected by gun violence, about half of the room of 40 raised their hands.
"We’re starting to get at that breaking point. I think we’re at a point where it’s like an epidemic," Landfair said.
Landfair said so far this year, the Chesapeake Police Dept. has recovered 52 illegal guns just in the second precinct. He said violence as a whole in their area is disproportionately happening in the second precinct and South Norfolk areas.
"We need to change this acceptance of violence," he said.
Lt. Rich Huttonbrauck said from the law enforcement side, that they’ve created an intelligence-based violent crime task force. They’re also looking at implementing a community-based Violence Interrupters Program and installing license plate readers in certain areas of the city to try and help.
He said it's a small group of people committing these crimes, but their ages keep getting younger and younger.
"It’s not that long that folks are getting out of elementary school and then go on to commit crimes. It’s amazing how young we’re seeing violent crime to take place in some of the citizens," Huttonbrauck said.
From the department’s gang unit perspective, they’re seeing more and more young people joining gangs.
Detective Mark Coull works directly with people in the gangs in the area and he said the trauma these kids have faced is something most people can’t understand.
"These juveniles do not understand the consequences of their violence until it’s far too late," he said.
He's been with the department for 22 years and said the average age of gang members has changed from 17 to 24 down to 13 to 17-year-olds.
He told the crowd that some of the kids he works with talk to him about their dreams and the life they want but then go back into neighborhoods that tell them they can't.
Michelle Freman with the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office works closely with the gang unit. She said when the community refuses to come forward with information on crimes, it hinders their cases.
She said her office has already prosecuted 35 gang-related crimes this year -- most of them adults, but there are some teens.
Matika Sawyer, the founder of the League of Advocates in the city, said they are going into these high crime neighborhoods, like Campostella Square, and offer boots on the ground support.
"We can do all the activities we want, but at some point, we have to come together and uproot that community and rebuild upon and rebuild it with love and compassion and empathy," Sawyer said.
She said there are only two of them in the group, and they're begging people to help out. But, she and many others on the panel said you can't just come once and disappear. This work is all about building relationships.
Councilman Don Carey said they’re working with the cities around them because criminals don’t recognize city lines.
"I’m going to say what I’ve been wanting to say for months: this area needs Jesus," Carey said.
He said when he's spoken to "gang leaders" or group leaders to ask them why they're choosing this life, they told him they're looking for brotherhood and purpose.
Det. Coull and Sawyer both said that's what they're working so hard to achieve: showing these kids that there is a way out and a different way of life.
They said parents and adults have to act as mentors and not create a further divide between police and the community.
From all the different perspectives on the panel, the consensus is that no agency can solve this problem alone and they’re begging the community to help.
"This is a bigger issue than just the police department itself can solve. We can no longer just solve the problems of violent crime in the community. It’s really going to take a collaboration and a partnership with everybody in the community: faith-based organizations, nonprofit organizations and the citizens themselves. We all are going to need to come together in order to end this problem of violence in the community," said Landfair.
To watch the entire forum, head to the Chesapeake Christian Center's Facebook page here.