Lima gun violence experiencing 'slow, steady downward trend'

LIMA — With the upcoming election and gun violence being one of the Democratic Party’s frequent talking points, some Lima officials were asked if gun violence — and violent crimes in general — in Lima is still a problem.

According to Lima Police Chief Jim Baker, while gun violence in the city is still an issue, “We have seen a slow, steady downward trend,” he said. “While we see it trending down it needs to be much lower, the majority of shots fired calls do not equate to violence. Many times what sounds like a gunshot is fireworks or something such as a car backfire — not that shots do not happen in the city.”

“Violence in a community is a multifaceted problem with many contributing factors that would include social and economic,” Baker continued regarding the cause of the violence. “To see significant reductions we will have to see a continued willingness to work together to solve our common problem. I am glad to say my observation has been that there is a general willingness across the various disciplines to work together.”

Community leaders working together to stop the violence can be seen in the Lima Area Black Ministerial Alliance, which held a gun violence forum in April discussing students being involved in the violence with some of it caused by gangs. At that point, there were — and still are — four homicides in Lima since the beginning of the year, and two of them were students. According to statistics received by the Lima Police Department, only one of those was caused by a firearm.

The statistics also showed homicides in the last four years. There were 13 in 2020 with nine by firearm; four in 2021 with three by firearm; four in 2022, all by firearm; and six in 2023, four by firearm.

The shooting statistics averaged about 25 between 2020 and 2024 with about 100 shots-fired reports per year.

Other violent crimes reviewed were stabbings and assaults. Stabbings included 21 in 2020; 17 in 2021; 12 in 2022; 21 in 2023 and 11 in 2024. There have been 117 assaults so far in 2024.

When looking at statistics of a city with a similar number of people, the community of Fairborn near Dayton could compare. On Fairborn’s website, their statistics so far in 2024 show 73 assaults, three shootings/stabbings and 13 reports of shots fired. The city has had no homicides since 2021.

“In regards to the violence in general, I think that any time we are talking about violence in our community it is a problem,” said Allen County Prosecutor Destiny Caldwell.

“It seems to me that our violent offenses have been pretty consistent over the years. However, I believe juvenile offenses of violence, especially when a firearm is involved seem to be up. I think that this can be attributed to a number of different factors including social media and absent parents,” she continued.

Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Reed agreed that younger individuals are being involved in gun violence.

“The younger generation, between ages 18 and 35, have grown up in a world where there is more illegal use of guns. Maybe that is to them a normal way to behave,” Reed said.

Reed emphasized that most people are using their guns legally and it’s not a Second Amendment issue. The problem, he said, is just that, “Too many people are using guns violently.”

“It’s a problem, it’s been a problem, it continues to be a problem,” Reed said.

He emphasized the consequences of carrying a gun while committing illegal acts, like the fact that if an individual is indicted on a charge with a gun specification attached, it will carry automatic prison time when they are sentenced, even if the firearm was just on their person and not used.

Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.