PUEBLO, Colo. (KOAA) — New this year to the Pueblo Police Department is the Non-fatal Shoot Team. The Pueblo Police Department's Chief of Police, Chris Noeller, said the new team is helping solve violent crime investigations.
Chief Noeller said his department is doing what they can to make the city safer, starting with three areas of crime.
“Violent crime, property crime, quality of life crime, in that order,” said Chief Noeller.
He said stopping violent crime is his top priority.
“To address that we created the nonfatal shoot team,” said Chief Noeller.
The Non-fatal Shoot Team is a group of detectives under the department's Impact Unit. They investigate non-fatal shootings, which according to the Pueblo Police Department, refers to a bullet piercing injury, attempted first degree murder or first degree assault.
Non-fatal shootings are when no one dies, but someone gets hurt or shot.
“We're obligating more resources to investigate those shootings,” said Chief Noeller.
As of last month, the Non-Fatal Shoot Team has started to investigate 17 different cases. Chief Noeller says so far, they have made 11 arrests in those cases. This includes several arrests the non-fatal shoot team made in two separate non-fatal shooting investigations in July.
"So what we're trying to focus on is putting the shooters behind bars,” said Chief Noeller.
As News5 has reported, the number of homicides in Pueblo so far this year is nine.
This is a 40% decrease from this time last year when the city had 15. Chief Noeller said the Non-Fatal Shoot Team is one way the department is taking a preventative approach to homicides.
"The people that are committing murders are committing other shootings, and not always killing the people that they do so are non-fatal shoot team taking an active approach to, addressing the criminals who are doing violent crime is probably help reduce that number,” Chief Noeller said.
It is a number he would like to see decrease even more by next year.
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