The story: Go here for a summary of our main findings by reporter Cornelius Frolik.
5 key takeaways from our reporting:
1. Recent gun violence: About 57 violent gun crimes with injuries last year took place in the city’s northwest geography, and 50 occurred in the west geography (79% of the total), according to police data analyzed by the Dayton Daily News. Four in 10 Daytonians live in the west and northwest geographies (41% of the population), according to data from the 2020 Census.
2. Larger trend: We made maps of where gun violence occurred over the last two years, plus a heat map from Dayton police data showing what three neighborhoods have been violent crime hot spots for more than 25 years.
3. Dayton police chief: The Dayton Daily News sat down for an extended interview with Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal to ask what the city is doing to address violent crime in these neighborhoods. Go here for a story and video excerpts from that interview.
4. Contributing factors: Afzal, along with experts and multiple studies, says the biggest contributing factor to violent crime is poverty and historical segregation.
- Cory found Dayton neighborhoods with the most violent gun crimes last year are predominantly Black and tend to have higher poverty and housing vacancy rates and lower levels of educational attainment and employment than the city overall, according to this newspaper’s analysis of U.S. Census data.
5. Residents’ voices: Cory talked to residents on one of the neighborhoods with the highest number of gun crimes last year. Go here for that story, including how they deal with frequent gunfire and threats of violence near their homes.
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