As the number of shootings and assaults continue to rise in Fort Worth, the City Council wants more specifics from its police chief about how to solve the problem.

The overall crime rate has dropped 40% in the last decade, but shootings increased 17% in 2021 after a 36% jump in 2020.

Police chief Neil Noakes recently gave the City Council a detailed presentation on the crime spike with heat maps showing concentrations in east Fort Worth, Las Vegas Trail, and the intersection of McCart Avenue and Altamesa Boulevard. More than two-thirds of victims and those arrested for shootings were Black.

He said professional policing and community engagement would bring down the rates of violent crime. However, city council members felt his diagnosis was more specific than his solution, and pressed him for more information on the plan.

Noakes said his department is working with researchers from TCU to study what’s working and what’s not. He said he was more than willing to update the council once the TCU study is complete.

Jared Williams, who represents southwest Fort Worth, said these trends weigh heavily on him, particularly when it comes to the rise in gun violence among teens and young adults.

He recounted the story of teen from his district who was killed last summer. This was shortly after Williams joined the city council.

“He was a graduating senior and he was headed to Tarelton State on a scholarship, and it was a really tragic situation,” Williams said.

The big unanswered question for Williams is how are teens getting guns, and what can the community do to help young people resolve conflicts before they resort to violence.

He’s been holding listening sessions throughout his district also brainstorming solutions with residents.

“I think it’s important that we address both conflict resolution, and the mental well being of our students,” Williams said.

Mental health is especially important for Williams given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I don’t have the data on this, but I would imagine there’s a correlation between those behaviors and the impact the pandemic has had on our kids,” Williams said.

Some council members took issue with the chief’s focus on who are committing these crimes without being similarly specific on his solutions.

District 8 council member Chris Nettles, who represents southeast Fort Worth, singled out Noakes’ assertion that crime prevention begins at home. He noted that Black boys and men are incarcerated at disproportionately higher rates than other groups.

“So does it begin at home? Or is it the fact that we’re not doing enough to keep them out of jail and at home,” Nettles asked.

Nettles said more has to be done to address the trust gap between communities of color and the police. He called for a civilian oversight board to increase transparency and trust.

Most council members advocated for an expansion of the neighborhood patrol officer program, which has had some success with improving interactions between residents and police.

Those officers are out there to be a resource for our neighborhoods, said District 3 council member Michael Crain, who represents west Fort Worth.

However, he argued the area’s these officers are asked to cover are too big.

“There’s no way (neighborhood patrol officer) can know the neighbors, know the streets, know the neighborhoods,” Crain said. He plans to address this in the next budget cycle.

Williams credited an officer mentor for keeping him out of trouble in college after the future council member tried to intervene to break up a fight.

“That was a pivotal moment for me of how important it is to have police that understand the community, and have relationships in the community to understand the dynamics when kids are involved,” Williams said.

To understand those dynamics though, Nettles said neighborhood patrol officers need to be on the beat beyond 9-to-5.

“The NPOs don’t know who’s who. They don’t know that that’s Johnny’s boy, because they’re not there when Johnny’s kid is playing outside his house,” Nettles said.

The city already has a lot of programs focused on crime, Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens wrote in an email. She pointed to after school programs run at the city community centers and the YMCA.

What needs to happen next is the city needs to look at these programs and figure out what’s working and what’s not, Bivens wrote.

“How do we measure success? How are we determining who among these groups gets funded by the city, the school districts, and other social service agencies,” Bivens wrote. “There are too many people fighting crime for crime to remain so high.”