Raleigh police chief: 'We're all hands on deck' after spike in violent crime

Raleigh's police chief on Wednesday will talk about efforts to address violent crime in the city following a recent string of homicides.

Posted 12:32 p.m. Jul 13, 2022 — Updated 11:16 p.m. Jul 13, 2022

Chelsea Donovan

, WRAL reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — Raleigh's police chief on Wednesday presented a quarterly crime report and spoke of the violent crime in the city following a recent string of homicides.

Chief Estella Patterson delivered her crime statistics update for the second quarter of 2022, giving details on crime that occurred from April through June.

The report showed that aggravated assaults and car thefts are on the rise and gun seizures were up 33 percent from last year. There were seven homicides between April and June with three arrests stemming from those cases.

Raleigh has had 23 homicides so far in 2022, with four coming in July. This year, more than 900 violent crimes have taken place between January and the end of June.

"When it comes to violent crime interruption, we're all hands on deck," Patterson said. "We won't stop doing that. I want to be clear for those committing crime – you will be identified and brought to justice."

Paterson also announced the violence interceptors initiative, which would send unarmed citizens into the community to assist with mental health, resources, housing and trauma therapy.

There were some encouraging stats.

Raleigh police seized 271 guns off the streets this quarter in the second quarter of 2022, a 33 percent increase from 2021.
The department has seen 312 cases of aggravated assaults, a significant increase. Less than half of those assaults involved the use of a firearm.
Patterson also said overall violent crime numbers have actually decreased since the first week of January, despite the recent wave.
The second quarter of 2022 featured seven homicides in the city versus nine homicides in second quarter of 2021.
CrimeStoppers tips are on the rise with 250 tips so far in 2022. There were just 161 tips total in 2021.

The FBI defines violent crime as rape, homicide, aggravated assault and robberies. RPD's data show the number of violent crimes up 8.2 percent year-over-year. The department is targeting clubs, bars and sweepstakes parlors this year in hopes of reducing incidents at these establishments.

Patterson noted the arrest last weekend of Kevin Parker – he was wanted for three rapes, two in Raleigh and one in Greenville from 2006. Patterson said Parker is in custody for his charges with help from the Greenville police department.

The report was released as officers investigate four murders in the last week, including a deadly shooting on Friday, July 8, in which a landscaper working in a neighborhood under construction was killed.

On July 5, a 33-year-old man was shot at a New Bern Avenue gas station and died of his wounds at a hospital. Two people – Thursday Trayvon Tarique Reams and Tia Asia Kemp – were arrested in connection with that crime.

Police: No on-going threat, but no arrest either in Raleigh's 4th fatal shooting of the week

That evening, a 27-year-old man and a 23-month-old child were killed in a shooting at a north Raleigh apartment complex that witnesses described as an accident that stemmed from an argument between two men.

Natanael Ezequiel Baez, 22, was charged with murder and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. The child who was killed, whom neighbors know as Bubby, was his son.

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