“Could I be that next victim?” is what residents are feeling, Danville Police Chief Philip Broadfoot told the Register & Bee on Friday. “I understand that. That’s why we’re focusing on those violent crimes.”

Specifically, those crimes are being committed by gang members. There has been “an increase in the number of gang-related crimes:” homicides, shootings, robberies, and burglary of businesses and homes, Broadfoot said.

Danville police have “been serving more search warrants on gang members,” Broadfoot said.

“We’ve been fairly successful in recovering weapons and gang evidence,” as well as making arrests for drug or gun possession, he continued.

A presentation by Broadfoot to Danville City Council on Dec. 6 showed gang activity was a major factor in five of last year’s 16 homicides.

The other homicides happened because of a robbery, domestic situations and arguments that escalated, or other criminal activity.

Broadfoot said “the access to firearms is becoming more prevalent.” Many times, those guns were stolen from unlocked vehicles or during a burglary.

There were 115 firearms stolen in 2016, according to a report by Maj. Chris Wiles with the Danville Police Department.

Danville police are “putting our resources in the areas and toward the people that we feel need that attention,” Broadfoot said.

“There are gang members we are focusing on, and there are areas we are focusing on with increased scrutiny in patrol.”

Increased patrols

Increased visibility of patrols was one of the many strategies City Council members asked to implement in their special work session on Dec. 6.

The Danville Police Department is budgeted for 131 officers. They have 121 officers with 10 vacancies.

There are 14 to 20 officers on the street at any one time, Broadfoot said. The rest are investigators, crime scene technicians, command staff, school resource officers and more.

On Friday night, an armed robbery suspect held up the Charlie’s Stop N Shop No. 2 at 1354 Westover Drive.

On Tuesday, there were three robberies and one attempted robbery with suspects wielding knives and baseball bats as weapons of choice.

The following night, the Valero gas station on Arnett Boulevard was robbed at gunpoint.

There have been no new updates in those incidents.

On Jan. 4, three women were targeted and assaulted in purse snatching incidents in Danville and Pelham, North Carolina.

Jasmine Jackson and Jawantez Waddell, both 18, and a minor were arrested as suspects in purse snatching incidents on Jan. 6.

Violent crime comes in waves — there will be no such activity for a period, and then there is a spike.

“We took a huge increase in our murders,” Broadfoot said. “Burglaries are the lowest they’ve been in at least a decade.”

“We were low and then we had this spike. We fully expect the spike to stop.”