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Albany police chief addresses recent crime in Capital City


6P TU ALBANY SHOOTING PKG_frame_1720.png
6P TU ALBANY SHOOTING PKG_frame_1720.png
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ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) - "We're disappointed that those sorts of conflicts are being resolved in that manner."

Unnecessary - That's how Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins describes crime like the shooting on Judson and 2nd that sent two victims to Albany Medical Center to be treated Tuesday morning.

"We're very very confident that we will identify the individuals who are responsible for the shooting," the chief said.

Hawkins does say, that intersection is one police have heightened awareness of, and they do have increased patrols there.

"It's just not practical to put a patrol officer at every corner," Hawkins said.

Instead, he says police have had a large presence in the community leading up to these summer months.

"We're doing things with the corner store owners to try to help them to create safe spaces," Hawkins said.

Hawkins says police have been working closely with the schools and city departments to open communication with officials and community members. An initiative the governor put into place last year, placing state troopers with some city officers, Hawkins says, is still in place. But the main focus is getting rid of the guns, seemingly at the center of the majority of the city's violent crimes.

"A major part of our strategy in addressing the gun violence is addressing the individuals who are committing the gun violence, those individuals, and those who are associated with those individuals," Hawkins said.

The chief says there's a small number of individuals in the community who are responsible for the gun violence going on.

"These are individuals who are menaces medicine is in our community, they're committing violent crimes," Hawkins said.

Hawkins can't specifically say drugs or gangs are behind the crimes, but his message to residents is to remember - that any conflict can be solved without a weapon.

"Let's take a step back," he said.

A couple of weeks ago, the Guardian Angels were in Albany meeting with the Chief, who says he offered them a compromise to work with the department under circumstances that they be trained by officers, among other things. Hawkins says that proposal hasn't been answered by the group, but they tell us they do plan on being up here beginning this weekend.

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