FLINT -- The recent string of violence in Flint is prompting leaders to take their city back from the hands of criminals.
City leaders say the rise in predatory crime is taking the lives of women and children.
Now anti-crime initiatives are forming to help stop the bloodshed before it happens.
A prayer is heard for families who lost a loved one in last weekend’s shootings in Flint.
News of the double homicide near Clio and Dayton, and another fatal shooting at the Marathon gas station on Pierson and Fleming has Pastor Jeffery Hawkins frustrated.
“Me having two sons that have been murdered in the streets of Flint, I grieve and really mourn with the family,” said Pastor Hawkins of Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church in Flint.
In response to the rise in violent crime, Pastor Hawkins is working to prevent it with City Councilman Sheldon Neeley through a public/private partnership.
It’s a state of the art camera mounted to the church that records evidence and can be accessed by police through the internet.
“We can actually take snap shots of something moving even from my cell phone,” said Pastor Hawkins.
“Pastor Hawkins says since the camera was installed last November he's noticed a decrease in the amount of suspicious activity going on in his neighborhood.
“It's a pretty high crime area, but it appears things are at a lot calmer state now,” said Pastor Hawkins.
Two other churches in Flint say they'll be getting cameras too.
Councilman Neeley says he'll be applying for federal grant money to make that happen, but in the meantime feels law enforcement needs to take a more aggressive approach.
“We have to make sure these criminals feel hunted rather than hunting people out here. By going to those dope dens and to the cancer in the community and eradicating them, cutting them out of the neighborhood so good people can live a good quality of life,” said Flint City Councilman Sheldon Neeley.
Whether it’s by force or through the eye in the sky, both community leaders pray Sunday’s homicides will be the city's last.
Soon 6th ward neighborhood watch signs will be put up.
Councilman Neeley says the goal is to create zero-tolerance crime zones in the city.
Anti-crime marches are also being planned in Flint.
Do you think law enforcement should be more aggressive in taking criminals off the street?
