City of Kinston holds community forum to address recent violence

KINSTON, N.C. (WITN) -The city of Kinston hosted a community forum Thursday Night in the hopes of curbing recent crime and violence.

The forum comes in response to troubling trends, includng four different shootings in the city over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

This also comes on the heels of news that the murder rate in the city has doubled from the previous year.

The forum gave elected officials the chance to hear directly from those in the community. Residents had the opportunity to voice their concerns to law enforcement and ask questions.

The primary focus was to come up with ideas and ways to help stop the violence.

Residents like Clementine Bryant said she hopes more forums are held in the future.

“I just hope that we continue to have this voice and allowed to participate in this kind of movement so that we can do something for these kids in Kinston,” Bryant said. “We really need to stop the violence.”

The Kinston City Council also voted unanimously at the end to begin working to form a task force with Lenior County Commissioners.

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