LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Little Rock is facing one of the city's deadliest years in nearly 30 years.
Sunday's homicide tied the record for the number of homicides in a single year. David Royal was shot and killed and police have arrested a man for that crime.
The Little Rock police chief addressed this unwanted milestone saying he's frustrated with the numbers.
"Any homicide that we have in our city is too many," said Little Rock Police Chief Wayne Bewley.
Arkansas's capital city is now facing the largest year of homicides ever.
The previous record of 70 was set in 1993. Now, we are sitting at that record of 70 killings.
"For me personally, I want to say that it is frustrating," said Bewley.
Chief Bewley was a police officer in 1993. He said the numbers are all too familiar, but these are not the same type of murders.
"Many of our crimes are not gang related. I'm not saying none are. They are largely people that know each other that from one circumstance to another lead to violence," said Bewley.
Murders have steadily increased in the past five years.
In 2018, we had 42 homicides. In 2019, it was 44. In 2020, there were 55, and 2021 was the second-highest year of homicides at 65.
Chief Bewley said he recognizes violent crime is a problem, and that the department is working to combat it with targeted patrols in high crime areas and weekly meetings with command staff.
"It allows us to take a look at what we are seeing, have open discussion among command staff, have input from every section of the department, [and] determine that we're seeing anything that we could intervene in," said Bewley.
The chief said he believes solutions include long-term commitment to preventing crime with the community's help.
Detectives have solved 46 of the homicides from this year. That means there are 17 still being investigated. If you have any information that could help solve these cases, call LRPD.