GREENSBORO, N.C. — Firing up the TV sheds light on a growing problem. You’re not imagining it. Every time you watch the news, there is another violent crime in our community.
“People drove down the street, just started shooting," Tracy Dent said. "I can hear my son telling everybody, 'Get down! Get down!'”
She was right next to her son, Jonathon, outside at a family gathering in Winston-Salem when she said about 30 bullets came flying toward them.
“They came out and told us that he did not make it," Tracy said. "And I lost it. I completely lost it. Unbelievable. I lost it. Because I love my kids. I did everything I could to sacrifice to make sure my kids would have a good life. I cry all the time behind closed doors, thinking of him. Looking at his children growing up without him.”
As time passed, things got even worse.
“I also, my daughter lost her kid’s father,” she said.
Jaylen was killed in another drive-by shooting.
“We were still grieving my son and then this came along. So, we’ve been through a lot,” Tracy said.
About a month ago, Tracy’s cousin’s wife was shot by a stray bullet while sleeping in her bed.
"When it’s tragedy in such a way like this, it’s so unbearable, you know," Tracy said.
Becky Cearas with North Carolinians Against Gun Violence said the rise in crime is reaching crisis level.
“I’m very concerned," she said. "It’s just horrible. Any life that is lost is an incredible tragedy. It’s time for our elected officials to wake up. Look at the numbers of how many people are dying.”
According to the FBI, violent crime in Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point has been slowly rising over the past decade as the population grows.
Crime across North Carolina was higher than the national average in 2020, according to the FBI Crime Data Explorer.
Newer numbers, tracked by Princeton’s American Violence, project shows just how staggering the rise in violence is in the Triad.
Over the last five years in Greensboro, there were 27 non-fatal shootings per every 100,000 people. So far in 2021, there have been 34.
In Winston-Salem over the past five years, there were 25 shootings per every 100,000 people. This year, that’s doubled to 54.
See violent crimes near you
On the streets, the picture is even clearer near the 2800 block of Elm-Eugene Street, there were five reports of assaults within the past month. Zooming out across the Triad, 2 Wants To Know mapped an overview of all violent crime reports from September. You can search your neighborhood:
Editor's note: 2 Wants To Know used reports from crimemapping.com to create this map. High Point police do not contribute to this website, so reports of violence from High Point are not on the map.
As you look at the map keep in mind, this isn’t just a local issue.
“Unfortunately, the bad news is: yes, in fact, violence is rising across the country," said Thomas Abt, author of Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets.
Factors driving up crime
Abt said there are two factors most researchers think are driving up crime rates.
“The stress of the pandemic both on individuals and institutions is likely partly responsible for the rise in crime,” he said.
The second major cause is the social unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd. Scholars have two theories why that has led to more violent crime.
“The first theory is de-policing," Abt said. "That police exhausted by the pandemic under tremendous scrutiny and criticism withdrew from voluntary enforcement activities and that lack of policing continued to the rise in crime.”
Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough said all the unrest has made it harder to recruit and retain deputies.
“We’ve been hearing this thing about cutting resources to law enforcement, which caused a lot of what I call, the blue escape. A lot of law enforcement professionals left law enforcement. A lot of men and women that typically could come to law enforcement, don’t see it (as) the profession they want to go into.” Kimbrough said.
The other leading theory about the impact of Floyd's murder is called delegitimizing.
"Basically, when communities that have been mistreated by the police for generations witness yet another high profile instance, they turn inward and they don’t use police for its oldest role which the non-violent resolution of disputes," Abt said. "So, people take things into their own hands. They take law into their own hands and, unfortunately, more often those conflicts turn violent and deadly.”
Kimbrough said there are several other issues in our society to consider.
"You have illiteracy, hunger, there are so many things that are causing the increase," he said. "There are a plethora of things that are happening, that’s creating almost a perfect storm.”
"A perfect storm" of near non-stop crime
"It makes me wonder, what’s going on. Most of the time I pick up my phone and I contact my kids, "Are you good? Is everything OK?' Because you just don’t know," she said. "It could easily be you. Just like I never thought it would be me. It could be your children. It could be a family member. We have a pandemic going on with COVID, but we also have a pandemic going on with gun violence.”
Looking for solutions
So that's the problem, we're also dedicated to looking for solutions. If you have an idea that might help cut down on crime, call us. We’ve set up a special hotline. Just call 336-379-5604 And let us know your thoughts.
You can also submit a video of your ideas through our app.
Download the WFMY News 2 app:
►Text the word APP to 336-379-5775
►For iPhone | https://apple.co/3aaH6iM
►For Android | https://bit.ly/3aea9Sv