15 Finds Out: Shootings increase after police move

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)--Since the police department moved out of its Creighton Avenue location, there were more shootings than any spring/summer since 2007. The Fort Wayne police chief and a leader in the southeast community think the reason lies more in area gangs than the move.

From 2007 to 2011, the number of shootings across Fort Wayne has been up and down.  The majority of those happened in the southeast quadrant of the city:

• 2007: 44 of 63 shootings happened on the southeast side
• 2008: 44 of 78
• 2009: 38 of 55
• 2010: 43 of 63
• 2011: 33 of 54

So far in 2012, some concerning numbers are popping up.  Through July, there have already been 48 shootings.  40 of those 48 have been in that southeast quadrant.

Coincidentally, the police department moved its headquarters from southeast to downtown Fort Wayne at the end of March.  Since then there have been 36 shootings, which is significantly higher than any April through July in the past five years.

Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York said the department's lack of a headquarters southeast isn't the reason for the rise in shootings.  He thinks it’s because of a rise in gang activity, which the department has been tracking for a year. 

“We see even newer gangs being created by younger people,” York said.  “I think that is the cause of the increase that we're noticing.”

Jonathan Ray with the Fort Wayne Urban League agrees with York.

“Any time you have fewer resources but you have the same need, you're going to have a reaction, and I think that's what we're looking at right now,” Ray said.  “We have to create opportunities for young people who are engaged in this violence to have hope for a better day.”

Although shootings were higher in the southeast side of Fort Wayne, all other violent crimes were spread out evenly through the entire city.  The Fort Wayne Police Department is in the process of putting an outpost on the southeast side.