TAMPA, Fla. — The public is welcome to attend the first in what the Tampa Police Department is calling a series of community forums to address the issue of gun violence.
Interim Chief Ruben Delgado is slated to help lead the discussion from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 28, at the Jackson Heights YET Center, located at 3310 East Lake Ave.
The department says Delgado will talk about what his agency is doing to address gun violence across the city. According to department statistics, there were 243 shooting victims in 2021 — an 11-percent increase from the previous year when there were 219 people affected by gun violence.
In 2019, there were 121 people affected.
Patricia Brown, whose son, Devante, was killed in a March 2020 shooting, is expected to speak at the event. Since her son's death, she founded the nonprofit Rise Up for Peace to address gun violence in Tampa.
