ROANOKE, Va. – A new face joined the Roanoke Gun Violence Prevention Commission for their November meeting.
Roanoke City Police Chief Scott Booth officially stepped into the new role in late October. Part of the reason Booth chose to bring his skills to Roanoke was because of the collaborative effort the city has in terms of addressing violence.
“Working with an entity like the Gun Violence Prevention Commission really gives me that intervention and prevention arm that can help make our police function even better. I’m excited Roanoke is one of the few municipalities that has such a thing,” Booth said.
Throughout his three weeks on the job, Booth hosted a community walk and began changing some of the ways his department responds to calls.
“We have improved our responses to especially our non-fatal shootings drastically. Next week we’re going to add even more resources to that because I think if we’re not responding to those incidents with almost as much rigor and vigor as we do our homicides, we’re missing the boat,” Booth said.
Chief Booth comes from Danville with a proven track record of addressing violent crimes.
At one point, Danville had the state’s highest homicide rate per capita. Booth was able to mark a 35-year low in all crime in just two years on the job.
Chief Booth was ready for a new challenge by going to a city faced with a record amount of homicides so far this year.
One area Booth and the commission want to focus on is Northwest Roanoke, with over 70% of the gun-related incidents in that part of the city.
“We have to focus our resources there without over-policing. One of the ways we do that is by walking through neighborhoods, talking to people so they trust us and look at us as legitimate, that’s very important in policing,” Booth said.
The next Gun Violence Prevention Commission meeting will be on December 19 at 5:30 p.m., location is not yet determined.