Crime is a concern for Chattanoogans, including residents in East Brainerd, Ooltewah and Collegedale, according to the Stand public survey.
General and gang crime ranked as the No. 1 concern of Ooltewah residents; general crime ranked as the No. 4 concern of East Brainerd residents with gang crime coming in No. 6; and Collegedale residents listed gang crime as their No. 4 concern and general crime as their No. 6 concern.
There have been 35 shootings in Hamilton County with casualties since January, Stand co-founder Josh McManus told the Ooltewah/Collegedale Chamber Council during a recent presentation. Most of these occur in the urban core, in neighborhoods where the average income is less than $15,400 and the level of education is low.
The 3,000 unsolicited mentions of gang crime in the Stand survey came “long before we got into the regulation of shootings in downtown Chattanooga.”
“Many of those instances came from kids surveyed in public schools,” added McManus. “They may have some indicator knowledge we’re not tapping into.”