3 Homicides in 4 days in the city of Johnstown have local leaders vowing to do more to curb crime in the Friendly City.
Crispin Havener was at a press briefing the city organized Today to talk about that.
Johnstown’s Police Chief Richard Pritchard says they’re already working with Johnstown City Council to try and help the police department be more proactive in the community, rather than reactive.
“For a police agency to be effective we must have the support of our citizens. We absolutely have to have it.”
Chief Richard Prichard says that with 6 homicides this year already in the city, and 3 in a span of 94 hours over the past few days, the violence has to stop now
He reiterated what the district attorney and other officers said Tuesday about the teamwork going on behind the scenes to do that, but also there needs to be more community support in assisting in bringing those responsible to justice.
Johnstown Council met with Pritchard in a Private Executive Meeting Yesterday to work on hashing out further initiatives to achieve that. Mayor Frank Janakovic says they’re in solidarity with the police to make it happen and solve the issues within the community.
“We can’t do this without the citizens coming forward. Police can’t be everywhere but they’re doing there best out there.”
Much of the discussion focused on ensuring the police department is suitably funded amid growing national trends of increased crime and an inability to recruit officers.
As discussions continue about how to turn around the recent wrongs and make the Friendly City live up to its words again.
“You look around here and everyone here cares about Johnstown and the city. And I believe the people who live here care about it just as much.”
