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STAMFORD, Conn. — More people are carrying guns in Stamford after several recent violent crimes, which worries police that more may be on the way, Capt. Richard Conklin said.
“There is a lot of mayhem that could happen,” he said.
He explained that some of these shootings stem from minor incidents, such as bumping into one another, and it's escalating from there. “They seem so trivial when you look into it,” Conklin said adding that many of the perpetrators involved are young, don’t have a sense of responsibility and act emotionally rather than sensibly.
Conklin, who serves as head of investigations for the Police Department, said that recent arrests of ex-convicts with guns helped verify information the Investigations Bureau had received saying that more people have firearms on them.
In the captain’s experience many criminals have weapons, but will leave them home or somewhere else for the most part. However with three people being shot recently, tensions are high in those neighborhoods, and he believes people there want to be ready for any situation that arises.
Police have tried to be aggressive against gun violence in the city by having more patrols by uniformed officers in those areas and reaching out to the community through different organizations, he said.
“Everybody out there has to help us,” Conklin said.
Conklin has told probation officers to tell their clients that police are cracking down on gun crime in Stamford and will hit their clients with the strongest charges possible. Members of the department have also met with federal and state authorities after making arrests to see which charges fit the incident best, he said.
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