DAVENPORT, Iowa — It's been almost one year since the City of Davenport has turned its focus to preventing gun violence in Iowa's third-largest city, and police believe the strategy is working.
"Group Violence Intervention" is the strategy, and its initiative is to reach out to individuals with ties to groups known to be violent.
Addressing community issues is part of being a city leader, and Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel has used his position to address gun violence.
"The past two years, we've had some significant violence, namely related to gun violence within our community," Bladel said during a media briefing Wednesday. "It's not a neighborhood issue. It's not a demographic issue. It's people picking up guns, and using guns and causing harm in our community."
Since last May, Bladel and the City of Davenport used GVI to help decrease that violence. It is a proactive policing approach, addressing issues before a typical law enforcement response is needed.
It seems to be working, with shots fired calls decreasing over the last two years.
Police reported:
- 43.3% increase in shots fired calls from 2019-2020.
- 26.5% decrease in shots fired calls from 2020-2021
- 17.4% decrease in shots fired calls from 2021-2022.
Police said the most significant decrease has been within the last few months, with a 42% decrease in shots fired incidents in 2023 compared to the same time period last year.
As part of the GVI process, the police department analyzed its calls for homicides in the last five years and non-deadly shootings over the last three years. It found 80.92 percent of those victims are people of color, 90 percent are men and 72.37 percent are in the 18 to 35 age group, according to department data Bladel shared.
Bladel also shared a map of the city, showing where these violent crimes have happened.
"There’s no such thing as a bad neighborhood," Bladel said.
Dwayne Hodges is a GVI volunteer, meaning he provides resources to at-risk groups before there are legal consequences. That includes face-to-face conversations at somebody's home, he said.
"I talked to somebody I know personally," Hodges said. "This is a boy I knew, grew up, committed a crime, went to prison, got out and now he's trying to get his life back together.
Bladel said the group has reached out to 84 people so far. 15 of those people have accepted some type of services from community resources. Only four people have committed another gun crime after receiving outreach from police, social services and a community member, according to department data.
"We've touched their lives in one way or another," Bladel said. "We've made a pathway, and we've made an impact."
However, police did note that while the city has seen a decrease in shots fired calls, non-fatal shootings have remained steady since 2020.
Police reported a 28% decrease in group violence related to non-fatal incidents. This is specifically a decrease in violence stemming from groups the department has identified within the community, Bladel said.
Bladel said his department is working with schools to help intervene with at-risk kids earlier. That means using school resource officers to bring these resources into the classroom.
The City is also working to expand its outreach to groups of people rather than individuals. However, they did not have a timeline for when that will begin.
Those interested in volunteering with GVI can click/tap here to reach out to the Davenport Police Department. Family Resources volunteer information can be found here.
Watch more stories about GVI on News 8's YouTube channel