New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
The New Bedford Police Department will be reaching out to individuals at risk of gang involvement and their families in an effort to convince them to surrender their guns.
They will be visited within the next few days by a team that includes a police officer and outreach worker.
Sharing information about guns and other criminal activity is vital. By withholding this information, we risk our young people being either a victim of a shooting or being the shooter and facing a lifetime of incarceration.
When guns get into the wrong hands, the results can be devastating to the community. Gunfire can lead to serious injury or worse to victims of violence.
In 2016 New Bedford Police took 74 guns off the street and as of mid-June 2017 38 guns. Despite the amount of guns that have been taken off the streets, we know there are more.
The police department urges everyone connected to at-risk youth, including their families, friends, neighbors and colleagues, to speak up if they know the locations of guns or see or hear any questionable behavior or situations.
Mayor Jon Mitchell said, “Our police force has strengthened communication with residents of neighborhoods across the city, and through their connections, they have continued to get dangerous weapons and individuals off the street. This is a collective effort that will require our entire community working together”
“Silence is the road to violence,’’ Chief Joseph Cordeiro said. “The community can no longer afford to remain silent. Everyone is responsible for ensuring that the community stays safe.’’
“We need all hands on deck forwarding information to the police. This is a community problem and can only be solved by all of us as a community coming together as a City of One.’’
He urges the public to forward any information immediately, utilizing any of the following methods. Information can be relayed anonymously by calling the anonymous tip line at 508-992-7463, e-mailing tip@newbedfordpd.com or writing a letter with no return address to police headquarters, 871 Rockdale Ave., New Bedford, MA 02740. Tips may also be submitted online through the New Bedford Police Department Web site at newbedfordpd.com.
Members of the public can also contact an officer they are familiar with.
