Pueblo police chief: Crime double the national average
The rate of crime in Pueblo is nearly double the national average, police chief Luis Velez told the city council at a work session Monday night.
Velez said the department received 465 calls for gang-related incidents in 2015, compared to 381 the previous year.
He told the council there was a 16 percent increase in calls for drive-by shootings and 722 calls for responses to shots fired. In 2014 there were 526 of those calls made. Aggravated assaults and auto thefts were also up significantly.
While the report reveals a dramatic increase in crime, Velez told KRDO NewsChannel 13’s Greg Miller he is confident in measures he wants to take place to reduce crime in Pueblo.
“It really sent a shockwave through the community. It also sent a shockwave through the police department,” Velez said. “We’re going to take every step, every measure, that I can think of to address the gang problems in this city.”
He emphasized coordination with U.S. Marshals service to utilize a database which would help officers better identify gang members.
“We need to take the information they have and pour it into a database that takes that info into actionable information for our patrol officers to go after,” he said.
He also says more cops will present a stronger force of safety. Velez said eight recruits are slated to enter the police academy next month, with another academy later this year.
But Velez’ plan is meeting some backlash, especially after the police union released a public survey showing a lack of confidence in Velez and the city manager Sam Azad.
“These are not new problems,” said John Rice, attorney for the union. “The additional officers – the city will still be woefully short of where they need to be.”
The union believes Velez should take more responsibility for hiring additional personnel and improving morale within the department.
While it won’t call for the resignations of Velez or Azad, Rice said the union wants to find a solution.
“They should exercise every avenue they can to increase manpower, not just the additional seven or nine positions that they’re talking about adding in 2016,” he said.
Velez would not respond to the union’s statements or the survey.
The department did release statement several weeks ago which said, in part, “All efforts are being sought to alleviate concerns and frustrations that appear to have manifested themselves in this recent survey.”
