'Cedar Rapids is a safe city'

CEDAR RAPIDS — 2015 was an enigmatic year for the city.

Gun violence continued to torment the city, with 100 instances of gun violence confirmed by police, up from 96 the year before. Six people were killed in 2015 — four by guns — including a 15-year-old boy at the hands of a fellow teen.

However, those six deaths represent a modest decrease in the eight homicides on 2014. In addition, violent crime dropped by 7.5 percent from 2014 to 2015, a fact Mayor Ron Corbett believes was masked by the gun violence.

'I definitely think the gun violence is overshadowing that (decrease),' Corbett said. 'You can hardly ever turn the evening news on and not see some community that is rocked with gun violence. The same is true with the state of Iowa. Davenport, Dubuque, Des Moines and Waterloo are all dealing with this issue of gun violence.'

But both Corbett and Police Chief Wayne Jerman said the city is a safe place to live.

'Cedar Rapids is a safe city, crime-wise,' Jerman said.

'The incidents that get a lot of media attention are, for the most part, isolated incidents. They are targeted and generally involved people who are engaging in illegal or risky behavior ...

These are not random attacks.'

Significant decreases

While reports of gun violence grabbed the most attention in the 2015, the city quietly saw a reduction in violent crime.

• Violent offenses — including assaults, robberies, sex crimes and homicides — decreased from 504 in 2014 to 466 last year.

• While aggravated assaults increased roughly 4 percent, all other violent offenses decreased. Murders, forcible fondlings and sex assaults decreased approximately 25 percent and robberies dropped from 131 in 2014 to 108 in 2015, a 17.5 percent decrease

Jerman listed a number of reasons for the drop, including proactive patrol and investigative efforts, vigilant citizens and the strength of partnerships formed in the community.

'We're hopeful that it will continue to decrease,' he said.

While Wellington Heights led the city in adult arrests and calls for service, it also saw significant declines in both categories. There were 355 adult arrests in the neighborhood in 2015, down from 480 the year before.

Similarly, calls for service dropped from 7,430 to 6,084 during that same time frame.

Jerman attributed that positive trend in Wellington Heights to outreach efforts made by the neighborhood association.

'They promote getting to know your neighbor, and I think that's a bonus in any community or neighborhood,' he said. 'Be a good neighbor. I think that's what has helped in that neighborhood.'

There were 142,486 calls for service citywide, a slight increase over the 142,014 calls in 2014. Those calls for service resulted in 6,661 adult arrests, down from 6,890 in 2015.

The most common offenses reported to Cedar Rapids police in 2015 were thefts, shoplifting, criminal mischief and public intoxication.

Gun violence and homocides

The first instances of gun violence in 2015 came on New Year's Day, with two reports of shots being fired.

Jerman has a number of theories on the increase in gun violence.

'I feel the number of prohibited individuals who are coming into possession illegally of these weapons is a factor,' he said. 'I also believe their decisions in trying to resolve whatever disagreements disputes or issues they have with another person or group is certainly a reason.'

Cedar Rapids City Council member Susie Weinacht sees it another way.

'We have a few people who need to understand there's a dignity in life,' she said.

A large number, though not a majority, of the shootings have been attributed to a small group of individuals Jerman and Corbett described last year as rival gangs. However, both men said those organizations share no similarities or ties to established national gangs such as the Bloods or Gangster Disciples, which have a hierarchy and initiations. Rather, the Cedar Rapids gangs are loosely affiliated groups of young people who have known each other since childhood and grown up in the same neighborhood.

Much of the gun violence stems from issues of perceived disrespect, although shootings also have resulted from relationship issues and drug activity, Jerman said — a trend that has continued in early 2016.

Cedar Rapids public safety spokesman Greg Buelow said there have been at least 10 arrests associated with the 100 shooting incidents.

'Many of these incidents remain under investigation, and it is possible that some of those charged are responsible for more than one incident,' he said.

While not all the shootings can be attributed to gangs, one of the most significant crimes of the year can be. On Sept. 6, 15-year-old Aaron Richardson was shot while in the 300 block of 15th Street SE. A 14-year-old, Robert Humbles, was arrested in connection with his death.

Richardson's death was the culmination of those rival groups' dispute, Jerman said.

'Our information and intelligence confirmed it was an ongoing dispute between two groups that were being disrespected on social media or disrespected in other ways,' Jerman said. 'They chose to engage in shooting each other.'

The first homicide of the year occurred on Feb. 24, when Mitchell Haferbecker shot and killed his wife, Sherry, in the couple's home. Mitchell Haferbecker then took his own life. It was the city's lone domestic homicide after a rash in 2014.

On March 7, 28-year-old Marcus McCaskill was shot outside a house party and died a few days later. His death remains unsolved.

Despite an increase in gun violence during the summer months, the next homicide in the city did not occur until Sept. 5. The body of Raymond Ursino was discovered in a church parking lot.

Surveillance video showed Ursino fighting with 44-year-old Travis Standlee near where the body was found, and Standlee was arrested on Sept. 9. However, Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden found there was not enough evidence to hold Standlee and ordered him to be released on Sept. 10.

The following day, the body of Sharon Mead was found near a bus stop at Coe College. Standlee was arrested in connection with Ursino and Mead's deaths on Sept. 22. Standlee, Ursino and Mead are all transients. Standlee is set to go to trial in May.

The day Mead's body was found, 32-year-old Bryan Ahmaad Edwards was shot and killed in the 1000 block of G Avenue NW. While no one has been charged specifically for Edwards' killing, four men — Derek Hughes-Doby, 28, cousins Cecil Howell, 45, and Treundes Howell, 28, and Keith Moore, Jr., 30 — have been indicted on federal firearms and weapons charges from an investigation that stemmed from the Edwards investigation.

'We're going to get better sentencing in the system they're in now (with federal charges) than if we charged them with the shooting,' said Cedar Rapids police Capt. Brent Long.

Going forward, Jerman and city leaders have discussed a number of approaches to combating gun violence in the city. Mayor Corbett has said he prefers both a 'tactical' approach as well as a community-based one.

'This isn't just a law-enforcement issue,' he said. 'It's a community issue.'

Added Weinacht, 'We can't just arrest our way out of everything.'

The multipronged approach will include the unveiling of the police department's Police Community Action Team, a group of officers that will work outside of regular patrol beats and will be deployed to address crime and quality-of-life issues in the city. One of the four officers on the team will have an experience dealing with gangs, Corbett said.

Jerman also praised the continued partnership with federal partners for the Safe Streets Task Force, which he said has been 'very instrumental in taking some habitual and dangerous offenders out of the community.'

In addition, a number of community groups, task forces and think tanks have been born out of the violence in 2015. Those groups hope to address the systemic issues that lead to gun violence such as racial disputes, poverty, unemployment and family structure.

Corbett said the city council will create a public safety task force that will bring some of those groups together to address those issues.