SAN DIEGO — San Diego leaders including Mayor Todd Gloria, City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera and Police Chief David Nisleit addressed a recent spike in violent crime during a news conference Wednesday.
"Since the beginning of this year, there has been a SIGNIFICANT increase in violent crime in our city," said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.
"Most recently, we have seen a concentration of deadly shootings in the Mount Hope and Mountain View neighborhoods of our city," he added.
According to the city, since the beginning of 2022, San Diego Police have responded to 10 homicides in San Diego which marks an 80% increase over the same period last year.
- 68-year-old Martin Andara on Jan. 1
- 27-year-old Rodrigo Diaz-Perez on Jan. 1
- 22-year-old Fatima Cedillo on Jan. 15
- 14-year-old Erick Balanzar on Jan. 31
- 29-year-old Jacob Harvey on Feb. 2
- 57-year-old Roger Jauron on Feb. 8
- 36-year-old Abram Santos on Feb. 13
- 27-year-old Jimmie Lee Roberts on Feb. 15
- 37-year-old Kyle Delangel on Feb. 19
SDPD said they have also responded to 44 non-fatal shootings as well as multiple assaults.
In response, city leaders are dedicating more patrols to those communities, while also working to repair dozens of street lights and clean up graffiti.
Police are also encouraging San Diegans to do their part.
Chief Nisleit asked the public to come forward with information that will aid in the investigations of many of the homicides.
"If you see something, please say something," he said.
This comes as authorities are dealing with a flood of firearms on San Diego streets. In the first two months of this year, SDPD recovered 372 guns, including 77 untraceable "ghost guns".
"Unfortunately in my 34 years, I have never seen the proliferation of the number of guns on our streets and the number of person who have guns on them right now," Chief Nisleit added.
While not the only factor, gang activity is one of the drivers of this violence, according to city leaders, who say that throughout the pandemic, young people, specifically young men, have lacked the resources they need.
"They need love, they need attention, they need support, and it has largely been gone, and it was pulled put from them rapidly, overnight,": said San Diego CIty Council President Sean Elo-Rivera.
"We need our young folks to feel loved, because hurt people hurt people, and loved people love people," he added. "And that may seem overly simplistic... but I think long-term and holistically, that is actually how we make progress."
WATCH RELATED: Report: Violent crimes up in first half of 2021 in San Diego