Are Greenville’s violent crime rates high?
A recent murder has Greenville residents concerned about violent crime numbers in the city.
Greenville Police arrested 28-year-old Jermario Smith of Greenville on murder charges Sunday. Police recieved a call concerning gunshots on Whittaker Street around 2 p.m. Police say they responded to the call and found a victim with gunshot wounds at the scene. That victim was pronounced dead, and Smith confessed to the crime shorty after. This murder closely follows another shooting incident in the city a few weeks ago, where a man was shot on North Conecuh Street. That man survived his wounds, but the two crimes occuring so closely together has many Greenville residents concerned about safety.
But Greenville Chief Investigator Justin Lovvorn said Greenville’s violent crime rates are rarely high. In fact, he said the numbers show an average of three murders per year for the Camellia City. The Whittaker Street murder is the second for the city in 2016. The first murder happened back in March.
“Sometimes that’s just the way it happens,” Lovvorn said. “We’ve had a slow period of time with violent crime maybe a couple of months before this, but then it comes like this sometimes.”
The best thing residents can do to help curb these violent crime numbers even more, Lovvorn said, is to call the police if they see something that concerns them. Lovvorn said that, in his opinion, the Sunday murder could’ve been avoided if witnesses had called police during the initial fight instead of after the gunshots.
“Well, the truth of the matter is, and this is a good example of that, if you would’ve called the police and got someone in trouble, or at least had them come break things up, then you wouldn’t have had someone that’s dead today,” Lovvorn added.
He also said if a resident doesn’t feel like their issues are urgent enough to call 911, they can always call the Greenville Police Department and speak to an investigator about their concerns. The number for Greenville PD is (334) 382-7461.
