As consultants drew up a plan to reduce violent crime in Salem, local law enforcement agencies tried a new approach in the city’s highest-risk areas. The Salem Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office assigned overtime work this past summer to ramp up vehicle and foot patrols in parts of Salem most vulnerable to violence. That included neighborhoods and parks in the northeast, as well as the downtown corridor. Police also spent more time proactively checking in with minors on parole and probation who were at high risk for violence, as well as their families. Salem police detailed their recent violent prevention work in a report published on Wednesday. The report also described a significant drop in shootings this year in the capital city. Fatal shootings in Salem this year have dropped 40% compared with 2023, and shootings leaving people injured are down 82%, according to the report, which did not provide specific numbers. Salem police said “no definitive causal link can yet be established” between its violence reduction work and crime statistics. But the early data shows that Salem’s violent crime rate is declining after a steady increase over 10 years, the report said. The boosted summer patrols are part of what authorities are calling the Community Violence Reduction Initiative, intended to grow into a collective effort with community organizations and service providers to curb deadly violence in Salem. They started that work after a city report in November 2023 showed that shootings in Salem had doubled over five years to 20 in 2022. Around 65% of all homicides and nonfatal shootings from 2018-2023 occurred within just over five square miles in northeast Salem. The report also documented a growing number of shootings involving minors as both the perpetrators and the victims. Empower Initiative, an Oakland-based consulting firm advising the city on such work, released its own report on violence prevention this week, recommending that Salem leaders directly contact young people at risk of being involved in violence to provide personal help. The organization also suggested that city officials prioritize alerting underserved residents about social services that address root causes of violent crime, such as unstable housing, mental health issues and gang involvement. Salem Police Chief Trevor Womack and Ben McBride, the consulting firm’s CEO and co-founder, will present their findings and plans at a Salem City Council work session on Monday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m.  READ IT: Salem police report on violence reduction READ IT: Consultant’s recommendations Extra patrols The police department said in its report that the extra summer patrols cost the city around $39,000 in overtime.  The agency assigned two officers twice weekly for five-hour shifts from late June through September, resulting in 300 extra patrol hours. Officers made 466 “positive community contacts” and five arrests, issued 30 warnings and seized two illegal guns, according to the agency’s new report. Marion County Sheriff Nick Hunter recently told Salem Reporter that his office also created overtime patrols focused on northeast Salem this past summer. They included officers who supervise gang members on parole or probation. Sgt. Jeremy Schwab, sheriff’s office spokesman, said Salem Reporter would need to submit a public records request to get information about how much the extra patrols cost the county. Police and deputies worked during the summer with the Marion County Juvenile Department and the sheriff’s office to monitor at-risk people, including making sure they are complying with the conditions of their parole or probation. The teams also patrolled downtown on foot and conducted home visits, contacting at-risk youth and young adults on supervision. Salem police described such work in its regular crime blotters on Facebook. Between July 29 and Aug. 4, for example, the crews visited with 28 minors and their families “in a successful effort to positively engage violent juvenile offenders,” the agency said.  In two other instances in July, they described arresting teens – an 18-year-old they encountered downtown who had warrants for assault and robbery, and a 15-year-old they found keeping a handgun during a probation visit to the teen’s home. The summer plan focused on addressing the risk of violence during months when the weather was warm, days were longer and schools were not in session, according to Salem police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick. Hedrick said police officials have not discussed plans to continue the extra patrols.  The city of Salem is facing a projected $18 million budget deficit in 2025. Absent new sources of revenue, deep cuts across city departments will be needed to balance the budget. “There are so many factors involved to include our current budget situation,” Hedrick said. “Yet, the council work session is a welcome opportunity to receive guidance on our future direction.” Two windows at Salem’s Riverfront Carousel downtown were damaged in a shooting around 1:20 a.m. Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Salem Police Department photo) The work with the juvenile department was done by Salem police’s Community Action Unit, which will disband at the start of next year. For around 25 years, that team has deployed officers on bicycles downtown and sent them to participate in youth programs and community events. The decision is intended to free up those officers to handle time-consuming investigations, according to Womack, the Salem chief. He said that work done by the team won’t disappear but will become more difficult, as officers will need to be pulled from patrol or work overtime. Work in progress Salem police said in their report that they attend regular meetings with other agencies to share information, coordinate criminal investigations, and create ways to intervene in the lives of people at risk of violence. As police begin to work more with community organizations, “this process is also intended to make referrals to non-law enforcement service providers for effective prevention and intervention,” the report said. The Salem agency already participates in youth programs with organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club, Kroc Center and the YMCA.  The Salem-Keizer School District also recently created a team of four who work only with students who are starting to engage in “high-risk activities,” the city’s report said. Salem police was recently awarded a $168,000 state grant which will in part help pay for school district programs focused on “personal growth, life skills and career development training, extracurricular activities, and mentoring.” Salem police said they are also working with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to create a new regional Crime Gun Intelligence Center, which would allow for real-time sharing of information about gun crimes, boost analytics and help connect incidents of violence. The Salem agency recently applied for several grants, including $2 million of federal funding for violence reduction work such as a city violence coordinator position, two police officers, training and data analysis. In recent months, several community organizations have organized peaceful night walks, a tactic introduced during the public meetings this past spring and summer focused on violence reduction. “While community walks alone will not end violence, they can be an effective piece of a more comprehensive strategy,” Salem police said in their report. Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson told Salem Reporter that she intends to create a new trial team focused on cases involving firearms and gangs.  She did not provide a timeline for the team. “Our goal is that early, focused intervention and accountability for offenders through close collaboration with law enforcement can better respond to violence in the community,” she said. Clarkson said her office has also adopted new policies to address another driving factor of violence –  drug trafficking.  “By focusing on treatment for users, but criminal sanctions including prison time for dealers, we are hoping to connect users to the appropriate treatment they need, while making Marion County unattractive to high-level dealers (and the crime that comes with it),” she said in an email. RELATED COVERAGE:  Consultant says personal outreach, dedicated staff needed to reduce violence in Salem After listening for months, city sets to work on anti-violence strategy  Salem police outline violence reduction work to begin this summer Salem shootings doubled, teen violence tripled in recent years, report finds Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. 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