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Lower this rate Our view: Lower this rate

Winston-Salem Journal - 1/6/2018

Our view

The increase in Winston-Salem's homicide rate, to 25 in 2017, as the Journal's John Hinton reported last week, is unacceptable. This continues a grim trend - there were 24 homicides in 2016 and 17 in 2015. That's a black eye for our city.

But it's one that can be countered with the right approach. We join Police Chief Catrina Thompson in saying that this is a statistic that residents shouldn't accept.

"We should never tolerate violence in our community," Thompson told the Journal. "To combat this problem as a community, we can take time to invest in our youth."

"As an educated community, we are less likely to have an increase in violent crime in part because we have other positive options available to us," she said. "We must also work together to teach our community members nonviolent conflict-resolution strategies, as well as the true value of human life."

It's good for our leaders to call on residents to work together to stop these types of crimes. We need to make more of an effort to identify the causes and confront them.

Chief Thompson suggested strategies such as more residents mentoring children and residents working together to teach nonviolent conflict-resolution. Amen. We need to end cycles of violence in families.

Jimmy Boyd, a retired Winston-Salem police sergeant and a former president of the local chapter of the NAACP, told the Journal that homicides can be curbed if residents unite to reduce crime and recidivism, poverty, homelessness and unemployment.

Of the 25 homicides in 2017, investigators have charged nine people with murder and other offenses, Police Lt. Michael Cardwell told the Journal. Five homicides resulted from acts of self-defense. Detectives are still looking for suspects in 11 cases, Cardwell told the Journal.

Three of the homicides were related to domestic violence, Cardwell told the Journal. Domestic violence is a perpetual problem. We need more people and organizations to join in the fight that groups such as Safe on Seven have long been waging.

Guns are used in most of our homicides. We repeat our call for tighter background checks, and for better enforcement of existing laws.

The 25 fallen souls are not just numbers. They represent the loss of human life and grief for loved ones who remain.

It's both a bromide and common sense that if we don't build schools, we'll have to build prisons. That should be one part of the equation to reduce homicide rates. Another part should be this group realization: We can prepare our children to be mature, responsible and peaceful members of society or pay the price when they don't. If we provide them with opportunities, they're less likely to assault and kill when they get older - and more likely to join in beneficial building for the future.