Beloit PD: Community involvement wanted in fighting violent crimes

BELOIT, Wis. (WMTV) - Beloit police are asking for more community involvement after tips helped authorities take suspects in custody for a homicide last week.

Tuesday night, the Beloit Police Department and local nonprofit Community Action Inc. gathered neighbors at Vernon Park to discuss how to reduce violent crimes. The session followed a homicide on June 7 along Porter Ave., which killed a 25 year old.

“The biggest thing is the victim in this matter was well known in the City of Beloit, so it touched a lot of people, and that got a lot of individuals to come forth and give us valuable information to help us come to a resolution on this one,” Chief Andre Sayles said.

Police said the suspected shooter turned himself in on Monday after a witness identified him. Two other suspects had also turned themselves in last week.

“The unfortunate thing is we respond to a lot of these violent crimes, and we’re not there on scene,” Sayles said. “Our community members [help] us out, get to the bottom of this, where we can bring justice to the families that lose their loved ones.”

According to Sayles, this homicide was the city’s second this year, similar to the number of cases seen in recent years.

“We’re very connected to people, friends, relatives [of] both the victim and other individuals involved,” Marc Perry, executive director of Community Action Inc. said. “We want to make sure that none of our other young people fall victim to this.”

Perry explained, a part of Community Action’s mission is to direct youth and families away from crime. All three suspects in the homicide were 18 and 19 years old, according to Beloit police. Authorities said the fatal shooting occurred after a dispute over payment for a vehicle.

Sayles said he plans to build community response teams in the east and west sides of Beloit. “We don’t live in most of these neighborhoods so our biggest thing is to get out [to] our community members, so they can know a face and they can know us by first name and they can let us know what’s going on.”

If anyone has information to any other unsolved crimes, is asked to submit tips to the Greater Beloit Area Crime Stoppers at (608) 362-7463. Individuals can send an anonymous tip online using P3TIPS.COM/482.