Lexington police against community: ‘Let’s intervene’

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) – From the beginning of 2024 to October 31, 16 homicides have been committed as a result of gun violence. According to the A Lexington biweekly reportnine of those murders involved children or young adults between the ages of 10 and 29.

It is a problem that LEX 18 has been looking at extensively for months.

Every time we’ve investigated gun violence in Lexington, we’ve spoken to ONE Lexington. That organization continually works to prevent shootings before they happen, but today we took our questions directly to the Lexington Police Department. We asked Sgt. Guy Miller on community safety concerns and steps everyone can take to reduce gun violence among youth and young adults in Lexington.

“Call us. Let’s intervene. Let’s come and have that conversation with your child because we want to prevent it,” said Sgt. Miller.

Notice. Intervention. Prevention.

Three things Sgt. Miller says this is important when working together to reduce gun violence.

“It goes back to that communication. No matter what part it is, whether it’s intervention, prevention or just when it happens, let us know what you see and let us know the key facts, where you are and what you’re doing next .” what we see and what we are looking for,” explained Sgt. Miller. “The presence of officers on the scene can prevent someone from acting violently.”

Sergeant Miller also says to trust your instincts.

“Some things are planned and some things are spontaneous. All the factors come together at the right time and when you are in that situation and read everyone around, if there are threats or if you think your human instincts are telling you that this is possible is escalating more violently and more and more people are doing things they shouldn’t do, call us before it escalates to someone who actually takes action against that violence,” says Sgt.

Community activists like ONE Lexington are going into neighborhoods and speaking to people, going door to door and talking about some of the issues they’re facing within the community.

When asked how much of a help the department is when it comes to gun violence prevention, Sgt. Miller responded, “It’s invaluable. I mean, they talk to the community, they get to know the issues, the problems, and they help solve them before they escalate, and that’s what we need there.”

As we head into the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, we also asked Sgt. Miller, if there is a message he wants to convey to the community,

“If your human instinct says, ‘Hey, something’s not right here,’ tell the person you think you should tell. Just say, ‘Hey, this is what I observed, this is what I saw , this is what they said, and I just wanted you to do that.” Be aware. If you think we need to get involved, call us. That’s what we’re here for. To listen to the community and help resolve issues before they escalate.”

Sergeant Miller also mentioned the importance of registering your security cameras through the department’s Connect Lexington program.

The program allows traffic cameras, business surveillance cameras and private security cameras to connect to a central network. So if a crime occurs, police can see where the cameras are located and see if there is any video footage that could help with the investigation.

Our Ellen Ice spoke with the Lexington Police Department about the program on Monday.