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GREENSBORO — More than a dozen people have been wounded in a series of 24 shootings throughout the city from June 1 until Saturday afternoon. None has been fatal.

Despite the high number, Greensboro police say overall violent crime remains on a decline so far in 2009 and the department’s gun-violence reduction strategy is yielding positive results.

Department statistics through May indicate violent crime is down by 15 percent , compared with the same period in 2008.

“Most of (the shootings) have involved people who know one another at some level,” said Dwight Crotts, assistant police chief for the investigative bureau of Greensboro police. “Whether it’s a business transaction, so to speak, or a domestic or an argument. The majority of the cases are not random acts of violence.”

That may be of little consolation to people living on Maywood Street, which was the scene of four shootings in a six-day period earlier this month.

There were two separate shootings on one day — June 13. Two more people were injured when someone shot at a house on June 17.

A fourth shooting happened during a drive-by on a residence June 18, though no one was injured. All of the incidents are believed to be drug-related.

The June 17 shooting happened between 10 p.m. and midnight, a period in which police had five victims in three shootings all at separate locations.

Others that night included two men shot at Claremont Courts at 2704 Patio Place . Another man was shot in the ankle during a robbery at 1903 Cedar Fork Drive.

In addition to drugs and robbery, police attributed the shootings to gang violence and domestic situations. Five involved BB guns.

Of the 24 cases, police said they have cleared three by arrests, and warrants have been issued in other cases.

Despite the recent violent streak, officials believe the department is doing a good job of removing guns from the street since launching a 12-point gun violence reduction initiative in January.

Since Jan. 1, Crotts said 396 firearms have been removed from the streets — 316 were collected as evidence, 61 were confiscated and 19 were found by the public and turned in to police.

In most confiscations, which happen when an officer removes a weapon from a potentially dangerous situation, such as during a mental health call, the weapon is returned, Crotts said.

He estimated at least 330 firearms were removed from the streets permanently.

In most cases, when the firearm is not returned after being used as evidence, not found to be stolen, or not claimed, it is melted down and sold as scrap metal.

“We are still focusing on those discharge calls and getting our officers there as quickly as possible and doing investigations on those,” Crotts said. “We are still concentrating on seizing firearms.”

Police said of the shootings on Maywood Street, officers with the vice-narcotics unit are continuing to monitor street-level drug sales in an attempt to curb violence. Other specialized units are working to address robbery-related shootings.

Maywood Street residents say they would like an increased police presence in their neighborhood.

“We need more protection,” said M.B., a woman who lives in the 2000-block of the street, as she pointed to bullet holes on her house.

“We have crackheads and prostitutes walking up and down the street all the time. (Police) aren’t doing enough.”

She refused to give her full name, fearing retaliation.

Despite efforts to remove guns and drugs from the streets, police acknowledge there is only so much they can do to stop the violence.

“When people deal in high-risk behavior, they are putting themselves at a risk (to be victimized),” said Capt. Chris Walker, who oversees the department’s southern patrol district.

“Usually in drug cases, they don’t come to us and say 'I sold this guy drugs and now he wants to kill me.’”

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com