KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — 2020 was the worst year ever for gun violence in Kalamazoo and waves of crimes involving guns have continued so far into 2021.
The city hopes to address the issue as summer approaches. Deputy Public Safety Chief David Boysen says 13 people died and 75 were treated for wounds in 2020 in Kalamazoo. He says the biggest difference is in the ages of those involved in the crimes. It used to be young adults, but it’s now teenagers as young as 14 and 15. They can be better armed than the officers and sometimes under the influence of alcohol or drugs, creating an even more volatile situation.
“It’s very concerning to us and we all know how devasting that would be for our community if we had a bad interaction with a youth armed with a gun.”
He described the situation as an arms race, saying the teens proudly show off their weapons on social media.
Boysen says one contributing factor was the fact that they were not able to activate their Group Violence Intervention program last year. They plan to revive it this summer, but will only have half the number of offenders they would like to, due to the pandemic.
