ROCKINGHAM — Police are stepping up patrols and taking other measures to help curb violent crime in two areas of the city.
Chief Billy Kelly sent a memo to City Manager Monty Crump on July 1 announcing the creation of a new shift due to the rash of shootings in the Rockingham Housing Authority and Cauthen Drive areas in the first six months of the year.
The new “E Shift” comprises officers taken from other shifts and supervised by Sgt. Ronnie Brigman.
“Their job is to patrol the areas … not only in vehicles, but be on foot, walk around, talk to people and try to prevent some of these crimes and try and stop some of the drug activity that’s happening in these areas,” Kelly told Rockingham City Council members Tuesday evening.
During the shift’s 17 working days during May, officers conducted 57 traffic stops, issuing 46 citations with 91 charges; and served 18 warrants with 18 felony charges and 13 misdemeanor charges on warrants, documents show.
The report says that officers on “E Shift” also “assisted the road when they were busy or had hot calls.”
Officers on that shift apprehended a suspect from a Fayetteville Road burglary, as well as someone suspected of stealing a vehicle from River Road.
The June report, which covers 18 working days, shows:
- 41 traffic stops
- 24 citations issued
- 45 charges on citations
- 21 verbal warnings
- 12 warrants served
- 15 felony charges
- 10 misdemeanor charges
- 31 answered calls for service
- 1 juvenile petition obtained (two felony and two misdemeanor charges)
Officers on that shift also reportedly seized 35 grams of cocaine and two firearms — an AR-15 pistol and a .45-caliber handgun — during traffic stops. The handgun was reported stolen by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and a 17-year-old was in possession of both firearms.
So far this month, officers were able to identify a vehicle suspected of being used in a shooting in the Little Philadelphia community within two hours, Kelly said.
He added that detectives are working with the Fayetteville Police Department Crime Lab to process evidence faster.
In another effort to boost security, Kelly said cameras have been purchased for Cauthen Drive, which are expected to be installed by next week.
The cameras come with a three-year lease “and are some of the better cameras on the market,” Kelly said.
The chief said a contracting crew working at the Crown Pointe Apartments “became concerned about the gun violence there … so we contracted with them to place an officer on Cauthen Drive 12 hours a day every day they work.”
The department has had a substation on Cauthen Drive for more than a decade.
Kelly said the department is also in talks to get cameras installed in the Housing Authority.
Next week, Kelly and representatives of the sheriff’s office are meeting with the U.S. Attorney’s office to see how federal officers can assist the local departments with “the problems we’re having.”
One main hindrance to some of the shooting investigation has been the unwillingness of witnesses and even victims to cooperate.
“None of these things that we’re doing can solve the issue without community support,” Kelly said. “There’s a lot of good people that live in these areas and we need their help to stop the violence.
“With what we’re doing and their help … we could really, really put a good dent in the violence that we’ve seen this year that we’re not accustomed to — not to this degree.”
There have been four homicides in the city limits this year and all but one have been in the Housing Authority and Cauthen Drive areas.
On Jan. 14, Dominique Rashad Little died after being shot while sitting in a Range Rover on Cauthen Drive. The RO is not aware of an arrest being made in this case. The department announced the offer of a reward for information leading to an arrest.
The second fatal shooting happened just two days later.
In that case, 25-year-old David Giovanni Boseman was killed while sitting in a Chevrolet Malibu on Palisade Circle.
Maquis Tavon Quick, 22, of Bennettsville, South Carolina, turned himself in on Jan. 22 after police announced he was wanted for murder.
A child under the age of 16 was found dead when police arrived on the scene in the area of Rockingham Road and Palisade Circle early on March 26.
Tito Jermaine Ray was charged with the child’s murder on April 18. However, he had been arrested the day following the killing on robbery charges and had been in the Richmond County Jail.
Police responded to shootings in the Cauthen Drive area on June 9 and 15 and Hunter Circle June 9 and 16.
Albert Lemont Huggins, of Cauthen Drive, was arrested Monday and charged in connection to a June 29 shooting with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.
Crump called the recent rise in crime “alarming.”
During one recent shooting on Cauthen Drive, there was an officer in the parking lot — in a marked car — and Kelly said 30-40 shell casings were collected from the scene.
“That’s the kind of brazenness that we’re seeing,” Crump said, adding that neighborhood patrols used to be a deterrent to violent crime.
“We’re being as proactive as we can,” Crump said of the “drastic” measures the department is having to take. “We’re putting substantial resources, time and effort to secure these neighborhoods and get these bad elements out of (them).”
Crump commended Kelly for coming up with and implementing the plan and hinted at other measures “we don’t need to talk about.”
The city manager echoed Kelly’s comments about the “good people” in the neighborhoods who “deserve to be safe.”
“And that’s what we’re trying to do.”
