The Raleigh Police Department on Tuesday met with residents in north Raleigh to discuss safety in the area around Atlantic Avenue.
The meeting comes two weeks after three people were injured in a shooting on Atlantic Avenue. The three victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries, but police are still searching for a suspect.
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Ursin Drake said he's lived in Raleigh for more than a decade and Atlantic Avenue makes him a little uneasy late at night.
“I think Atlantic Avenue is pretty good [but] when it’s late, anything can happen,” Ursin Drake said.
Members of the Raleigh Police Department, including Police Chief Estella Patterson spoke with residents at the Millbrook Community Center Tuesday night, just days after the Police Department released its second-quarter crime statistics.
While police said violent crimes were down, several, including assaults and motor vehicle thefts, were at 10-year highs through the first six months of the year.
"I think we have seen those trends, those upticks across the nation and are not unique to Raleigh," Patterson said. "What is unique to Raleigh is the growth. With that growth, you’re going to have a segment of the population that is committing the crime."
Specifically near Atlantic Avenue, police said road rage incidents are up. WRAL News asked police how planning to make the area safer.
“We do focus on strategical areas,” one police officer said. “If we do see an uptick, beat officers are going to get out in the area based on the intelligence they get.”
Raleigh police has 67 vacancies in the department and is launching a new civilian unit to investigate car crashes, which it says is one of its top calls.
They remain hopeful it will free up other officers to focus on combating violent crime around Raleigh.