A Denver police unit started investigating all shootings like homicides. Now other cities are taking notice…
Full story: Denver Police tackle gun violence by solving more nonfatal shootings
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Appalachian State University
FAST, or the Firearm Assault Team, was created in Denver in response to the amount of unsolved shootings. If a shooting did not result in a homicide it was given to detectives that get hundreds of cases a year, in turn most cases did not get solved if they were not simple. Denver wanted to change that so the FAST team was created; they also had another goal of lessening the amount of gun violence. FAST proved effective at solving cases in its first year, but between 2020 to present there has not been much evidence of decreasing gun violence as a result. Despite not having evidence proving FAST was able to deter gun violence, many other police departments studied and implemented their own versions of FAST. FAST has proven to help solve violent gun crimes that did not result in a homicide, but has not shown deterrence factors. Is it important to take 10 officers from an already understaffed department and put them in a specific unit, if its deterrence factors have not been effective so far? Can implementing FAST units help build better community relations? Should FAST units be seen at most police departments across the United States?
Hi Cali, I agree in that I don’t see or think that FAST would deter gun crimes but it makes sense that it is helping to solve gun crimes. When detectives get lots of cases it easy for them to overlook things that may not have an answer. I do think that departments across the U.S. should have FAST teams. A question that I would have about the FAST team is where is the funding coming from? Is it being taken out of Police Departments? Or is it from taxpayer funding? Should citizens in these areas have a say on whether or not they think this is useful in their community?
Hey Cali, I think the FAST unit is a great experiment and it will be interesting to see if any other departments will adopt a FAST unit. I think it would be a great idea to try a FAST unit in a city with above-average gun violence. Although FAST may not be effective in deterring gun violence it is important that nonviolent shootings are thoroughly investigated. As the article mentions, non-lethal shootings are often placed on the back burner resulting in the victims not receiving justice.