Norwalk has a gang problem, Police Chief Harry Rilling said Thursday. He told a press conference: "We do have pockets of gangs that form around neighborhoods. It's usually based around the neighborhoods they grew up in or where they lived. It's not unique to Norwalk, it's a national problem.
"When we start to notice an increase in certain types of activity, we redeploy our resources," said the Chief. "We put them where we need them and where they're going to be most effective."
Rilling said that he has taken patrol officers and reassigned them into three street teams with the narcotics division in an effort to get drugs and guns off the street. In his estimate, the police have removed 20 guns from the street over the last year.
"It's done a lot of work to make the community feel safer by knowing that they're there," Rilling said, referring to the newly deployed patrols, "And it keeps the bad guys guessing and on edge."
Mayor Richard Moccia told the press conference: "I wish I could say I was the mayor of a city with no violent crime, but I can't." He placed a lot of the responsibility in the hands of the parents."Given the state of the economy, with parents working so hard, their kids might succumb to the gang lore," he said. "I still get very upset when I see young children walking down the street at 11:30 at night. Parents have to take responsibility to know where their young children are. We can't be everywhere or monitor every possible situation in a city of our size."
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