Little Rock officials gathered on Monday night for another forum to address the city's recent increase in violent crime, speaking about how it has affected them personally.
The event was part of a series of talks called "Courageous Conversations" as community leaders attempt to reach out amid an escalation of homicides in Little Rock.
Members of the panel spoke about the devastation an increase in the violence is doing to the capital city. Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said he knew two homicide victims this year. Pastor Preston Clegg, of Second Baptist Church Downtown, spoke about the covid-19 pandemic serving as catalyst for an increase in crime near his church on East Eighth Street.
The increase in homicides prompted a renewed push from city officials with the Little Rock Board of Directors voting to declare gun violence a "public health emergency" in a resolution passed in February. The public health emergency called for increasing strategic and targeted police patrols, lifting limits on overtime and finding social workers to help address community violence, according to the resolution.
"It hits home," Scott said of violent crime, "because many of the homicides I have a connection to in some way, shape, form or fashion, and it must stop."
Scott said Little Rock police has increased patrols in high-crime areas as a short-term fix. But Scott added that any positive changes won't come quickly, as the city has to address the roots of crime, which he attributed to the city's youth seeing no opportunity or future for themselves.
The homicide rate in Little Rock increased by 33% in the first three months of 2022, compared with the first three months of 2021, according to Little Rock police statistics.
"We have to provide more resources to our youth and our young adults because that's where it's at," Scott said."We have a generation of youth we may have lost 10 years ago that literally does not see life past 25."
Scott said the current violent crime surge is not as bad as the increase in gun crimes the city saw in the 1990s, saying the earlier crime wave was driven by a "gang culture" whereas the current rise is driven by social ills the pandemic revealed. Scott said the city Board of Directors has set aside almost $2 million in crime prevention efforts for Little Rock youths.
The mayor also took aim at Arkansas' gun laws, saying the state needs to impose greater restrictions on where people can carry guns.
Little Rock Police Chief Keith Humphrey echoed those sentiments, saying it's hard for police to push back against rising gun violence in "a state that is so liberal when it comes to gun laws," referencing a state law that allows citizens to conceal-carry in parks and sports fields.
"We have guns that are being allowed in parks and things of that nature. It's not a good recipe right now," Scott said in an interview.
Clegg said that since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic he has noticed an increase in crimes near his downtown Little Rock church, saying some parishioners, particularly women, have felt endangered in the area, especially at night.
"We've been a downtown church for as long as we've been a church, so there are few things that we have not seen," Clegg said. "The pandemic was a game-changer for us, with the many things we saw around our church -- an uptick in drug usage, violence around our church."
Humphrey also blamed the pandemic for an increase in violence, saying a mental health crisis pushed interpersonal conflicts to become more violent with guns often being used to resolve disputes.
"People do not know how to agree to disagree. And it spills over to the point where people need guns to settle their differences," Humphrey said.
During the question and answer portion, former Pulaski County Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey asked the panel to "address the alienation of young Black males."
"If we're going to deal with crime, we don't need to beat around the bush," Humphrey said.
Those who attended the discussion were asked to fill out a survey about crime in the city with 75% of those responding saying violent crimes were the biggest issue within their community with 12% who chose drug abuse and another 12% who chose traffic.