TEMPLE, Texas (KXXV) — Temple police say they have seen a drop in shootings from 2022 to 2023.
37 shootings have happened this year — there were 44 shooting events from January 1, 2023, to June 16, 2023, and 54 from January 1, 2022, to June 16, 2022.
The police say some areas are worse for crime than others.
“The eastern part of Temple is considered a high crime area,” said Sydney McBride with the Temple Police Department.
A neighbor, Wayne Bingham, who has lived in this area since 2011 says no matter what side of town, it is the same thing — via Facebook he shared this statement:
“Crime has blown up the last few years, and I feel like it's getting worse. We have too many people in this small town, for the small town police department to be able to keep up with."
In a map of recent crimes, in February, Temple police arrested a suspect following a shooting outside of the Uvalde Foundation for Kids Office in Temple.
“You always have the moment — now parents across this community can relate to it and go, 'Is my child next? Is my neighbor next? Am I next?'," said Daniel Chapin, Founder of Uvalde Foundation for Kids.
Temple police say to be aware of your surroundings, keep valuables out of sight, use security cameras and lights, keep your doors to vehicles and homes locked at all times, and to keep firearms out of vehicles.
“When you began to address violence on a different level, on a cultural level — not just on an incident by incident level — you begin to empower individuals from students themselves to parents to teachers to law enforcement across the spectrum within the community,“ Chapin said.
The police recommend that if you see something, say something.
“When we keep these things in the light and we bring attention to it, that itself creates the change because it doesn’t just get swept under the rug," Chapin said.
"These kids, these folks that are hurting and dying out there — they deserve that."
To see the crime map, click here.
