LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Junior launched his ‘Crime Reduction Plan’ earlier this year, but with violence still happening on our streets, local leaders have doubled down on calls for unity.
“A holistic approach to combating violent crime,” described Mayor Scott.
It takes a village to care for a home, and in this case, that home is the City of Little Rock.
"We can't do it all by ourselves,” said Michael Sanders, with the Office of Neighborhood Safety.
Members of Our Village came together on Tuesday to talk about how working together is the only way to make a change.
“Trying to brainstorm and come up with ideas on how to best for lack of a better word, solve or intervene in what's going on now in Little Rock,” Sanders added.
Mayor Frank Scott Junior said that overall crime is down, but unfortunately, homicide rates are up 13%.
“It's something that impacts me, and it affects me very personally,” said Mayor Scott.
Clearly, there's still work to be done— but community outreach programs said that they're doing what they can to reach young people in hopes to stop violence before it starts.
"Let's go out and get those youth right let's go out and get those voices,” said Tim Campbell with the H.O.P.E. Advisory Council.
The city's police department has focused on transparency on and off the job.
“We now have body-worn cameras, all of our patrol officer’s enforcement have body cams, we have additional so we can supply them for officers working off duty. And that is a huge step in building that trust,” said Interim Chief Wayne Bewley,
Leaders and members of the community plan to work together to tackle this issue, because it truly takes everyone to make a difference.
“When you have the community together, focus on solutions that charge the path forward,” said Mayor Scott.
The mayor also mentioned that the city used American Rescue Plan funds to build the new "real-time crime" unit at the Little Rock Police Department to get more eyes on every part of the capital city.