Lynn chief: Too few cops, too much crime

LYNN – There have been at least 30 violent crimes in Lynn since the beginning of October – including a murder, multiple shootings, two stabbings and numerous armed robberies – but police have only made four arrests in connection with the crimes, Police Chief Kevin Coppinger acknowledged last week.Coppinger blamed the low number of arrests on the lack of cooperation from victims and not enough cops on the street.?We made arrests in three cases, and had another eight incidences where the victim was uncooperative,” he said last week.Since the interview, police arrested a 15-year-old girl who allegedly stabbed a 17-year-old girl three times in the back over a dispute about a boy, according to police.Coppinger noted that it’s particularly difficult to make arrests when gangs and drugs are involved.?They(gang members) try to take care of it themselves, and obviously we’ll do what we have to do n increase patrols, make motor vehicle stops,” Coppinger said about gang members reluctance to cooperate with police. “We’re continuing to put the pressure on as best we can.”Darren Cyr, the city councilor for Ward 3, where more than a few of the crimes took place, said the city is suffering from a major crime problem and too few police to combat it.?The safest in the last 20 years this city ever was was when we had cops walking the beat and riding the bike. It’s the only way to combat the crimes and the drugs,” he said.Cyr is “fed up with the thugs who bully people” into staying quiet about crimes, and city officials need to find a way to increase the number of police on the force without eliminating other services and jobs, which he said might mean raising taxes.?I’m a firm believer in neighborhood associations, like some we have in Ward 3, and also putting cameras in parks and on street corners,” Cyr said.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy did not respond to several calls made in reference to this story.Since Oct. 4, there have been at least 30 violent crimes in Lynn, including one murder, four shootings, two stabbings and a multitude of armed robberies.The unsolved crimes include:daytime armed robbery of the Sovereign Bank on Broadway last Wednesday. Police Lt. Christopher Kelly said the bank “was robbed at gunpoint by a white male, thin build, 5’10” tall, late 30s to early 40s, wearing a Red Sox cap.”shot two men on Dec. 31 on Harwood Street in what Coppinger said is a gang-related incident. “The double shooting is still under investigation,” Kelly said. “The victims and witnesses have not been too cooperative.”Ralph Iocco , 36, of Peabody at 16 Newhall St. on Nov. 29. Neither shooting has been solved.shot into a crowd of people on Market Street. Kelly said at the time that the crowd had not been cooperative in providing information to police, but several gun casings were found at the scene.a store clerk at Boston Fried Chicken on Franklin and Hanover streets on Dec. 5.He said victims are more likely to be cooperative in these cases than in street robberies, where the circumstances can become more blurred.?With street robberies, it’s not rare that it’s drug-related and they say they aren’t robbed, but we take the information and do as much as we can without the victim’s help,” Coppinger said.There are frequent armed robberies in the city, according to police reports, including an incident on Dec. 2 on Lexington Street when a man stole a Lincoln at knifepoint. Police hunted for the suspect, but th