SOUTH BEND, Ind. — City leaders in South Bend are fed up with the amount of violence that has taken place in the city this year.
To date, the city of South Bend has seen 86 people shot involving some sort of criminal activity. Fourteen of those 86 people shot have been killed. South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski said in a press conference Wednesday the city is on track to see one of the most violent years its seen in a while.
“Our patience has run out,” said Mayor James Mueller of the violence. “Lives are on the line. Your neighbors are fed up. So we as a community need to come together and have this stop.”
Ruszkowski said the department is getting more calls about mass gatherings of people overnight that are causing a ruckus and in some cases, those gatherings are blocking streets and sidewalks. Police have even gotten calls about emergency vehicles being blocked from getting to and from where they need to go because of the gatherings.
“If you block a street, or if you block a sidewalk, that is disorderly conduct,” Ruszkowski said. “If people can not ingress and egress down a sidewalk that’s disorderly conduct, plain and simple. It’s an arrest-able offense. It’s a misdemeanor.”
Ruszkowski said his department will be stepping up patrols in certain areas where they say unruly gatherings have been taking place and if things are that if things are getting out of hand they will make people leave.
