Due to an increased police presence in the area stemming from the murder in the same area nine days ago, cops were on the scene immediately, and a helicopter was dispatched shortly afterward to try to find the shooters. We don't know if they were apprehended.
We are told that the funeral of Troy Phelon, who was killed on March 9, was held Wednesday, and it's possible that the shooting was in retaliation for his murder.
At the Beat 1914 CAPS meeting a week ago, the police officers said that Mr. Phelon was "associated" with a gang, but was not a gang member. They said his death was the result of taunting between rival gangs on YouTube and other social media.
Can't say I agree with the quote above "due to an increased police presence in the area" and what does "cops were on the scene immediately mean" ??? clearly not immediately enough to prevent the shooting, not immediately enough to make an arrest and not immediately enough to have a clue who did the shooting or to pursue a fleeing assailant!!! Make no mistake the 19th district CPD manpower is at an all time low having lost about 27% of their officers since 2011 - and this is from the departments numbers. Far too often this results in all available cars being tied up on assignments with no cars or very few cars available to respond to 911 calls let alone patrol the area. When there are not enough cops to take reports it is a no brainer crime goes down ...no report means it never happened. Dont quote statistics ask the residents of the area if they feel just as safe, safer or less safe...you would be hard pressed to find a majority of Uptowners who feel safer now! Murders and shootings are up not down...harder to fudge those numbers. Very sad state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteI have lived here since 2008 and I definitely feel safer than ever. I also feel like there were much fewer shootings than there were 5 years ago. I know this "feeling" isn't exactly scientific, but I guess if we are ignoring statistics that's all I have left.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it seems like a bit much to expect the cops to arrive at a shooting before the shooting happens.