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GREENSBORO — Police look at patterns to fight crime. But the recent spate of gun violence perplexes them.

Other than the rising use of guns, there is no easily discernible pattern, Greensboro police Chief Ken Miller said.

“Since about late January, early February, we started to see the early signs of a rise in gun violence,” he said.

“It has ramped right up in the last few weeks for sure.”

After two more deaths this week, Miller said Thursday that he plans to use his weekly Monday meeting with senior officers to take another look at what has been happening.
Since February, Greensboro police have responded to seven homicides — six involved guns.

On Tuesday, police found Jeremiah Jacob Washington, 25, dead in a field beside the Cavalier Inn. Police would not say how he died.

The city had its seventh homicide with the shooting death Thursday of Jeffrey Sentell Alston, 29, who was found inside a car at Tuscaloosa and Pearson streets.

Greensboro saw its first two killings in February.

March produced a lull for city police, although the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office was involved in the fatal shooting of a man who pulled a weapon on emergency crews trying to help him after a wreck.

Then in April, there were three shooting deaths in the city.

“We may go the rest of the year and not have one,” said Lt. Dennis Willoughby, executive officer of the Criminal Investigations Division. “It’s just something you can’t predict.”

Crime analysts first looked at the data about a month ago, Miller said. But they didn’t see the patterns that usually crop up — groups that are causing trouble, particular locations where crime is taking place, drugs as a root cause.

The only definite pattern: more guns being used, from shooting into occupied dwellings to assaults, Miller said.

He wants to take a closer look to see if there are patterns that were missed or other connections.

“Are we seizing guns in those same areas? If not, why not?” he said.

At the Monday meetings, police usually look at data comparing the week before to the same week from the previous year, as well as longer-term data.

“This Monday, we’ll have probably a fairly lengthy session about this gun violence,” he said.

The public can help in curbing gun violence, Miller said.

Keep firearms locked up at all times, he said. Know where your weapons are and keep a record of their make, model and serial number so that if they are stolen they can be identified, he said.

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jennifer.fernandez@news-record.com