Flock cameras, new patrols and ambassadors: Richmond's plan for Shockoe Bottom

RICHMOND, Va. — Within minutes of the Feb. 21 mass shooting in Shockoe Bottom, before most investigators had even arrived on scene, analysts inside Richmond's Capital City Intelligence Center were already pulling camera footage and tracking vehicles leaving the area.

That rapid response — powered in part by Flock license plate reader technology — would prove critical in helping detectives identify and arrest three suspects in just two weeks.

Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said the technology is now a routine part of how the department responds to critical incidents.

"Whenever we have a critical incident like this, what happened before even the first officer got on scene was members of our Capital City Intelligence Center started looking at camera footage, and they were identifying cars. Flock LPR was used as part of that matrix that they're able to go through and provide tips to our officers about vehicles leaving the scene and identifying those individuals afterwards," Edwards said.

Edwards pointed to a separate case as an example of just how quickly the technology can work.

"We were able to identify a car within 33 minutes of a person being pronounced dead. We are identifying that person and making an arrest. It is a tool that is used every day in our city to great effect," Edwards said.

Ian Kaufmann, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Richmond Field Office, said the bureau established a tip line and conducted analysis of still images and video submitted by the community and shared by Richmond Police, building a timeline for use in prosecution. ATF Resident Agent in Charge Joe Norman said the ATF used NIBIN and eTrace to support the investigation.

WATCH: Shockoe suspects had no criminal history; more arrests expected

"You are not protecting yourself"

While technology helped solve the case, Edwards said the root cause of the shooting was far simpler — and far more preventable.

He said more than 50 shots were fired that night because people chose to engage in a physical fight while armed, and he pushed back firmly on the idea that carrying a gun to a social event makes anyone safer.

"Many of the individuals — these are not hardened criminals. These are people that brought guns to a social event, found themselves in a situation and made terrible decisions that cost two people their lives and wounded other people," Edwards said.

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Edwards said the outcome of the night could have been entirely different had no one been armed.

"This could have been just a normal fight where we had some bumps and bruises. People go home about their lives and forget about it. But it ended in over 50 shots fired because people chose to engage in a physical fight with guns in their hands," Edwards said.

He also warned that being armed in a confrontation can make a person a target rather than a protected party.

"If you are armed, you cannot engage in a normal fight. If you're walking up to a fight with a gun in your hand, people will perceive you as a threat and can use deadly force against you in some instances," Edwards said.

Edwards said Shockoe Bottom remains the number one location in Richmond where guns are stolen out of cars, and said people who leave firearms in their vehicles are not storing them safely. He said legislation requiring safe storage of weapons in vehicles has his support.

Mayor Danny Avula said the arrests should not be the end of the conversation.

"There's also a behavioral and cultural change that needs to happen. We need this to be a place where people can enjoy themselves, where people can connect to other people in community, and do so without ending lives needlessly," Avula said.

FULL PRESSER: Police announce arrests in deadly Shockoe Bottom mass shooting

A new security model for Shockoe Bottom

In the weeks since the shooting, Richmond Police have also overhauled how they staff Shockoe Bottom on weekend nights.

Edwards said the department had previously pulled officers from precincts across the city — including school resource officers and detectives — to cover the entertainment district on busy nights. After hearing from business owners, he said that approach was not working.

"What we found is that some of those officers didn't really know the Bottom. Didn't know how to get people in as easily," Edwards said.

Going forward, Edwards said only First Precinct officers — who work the area regularly and know it well — will be assigned to secure Shockoe Bottom on weekends. To offset pulling those officers from their regular duties, the department will supplement with overtime staffing dedicated to 911 call response and emergency response citywide.

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Edwards said increased patrols are already in place and will continue through at least St. Patrick's Day, noting that Shockoe Bottom drew a large crowd last year on that date and saw multiple shots fired, though no one was struck.

Additional cameras and lighting have also been added to the district in the weeks since the shooting, Edwards said.

Richmond City Council President Cynthia Newbille said the city has been actively soliciting feedback from business owners and will continue to do so.

"We had just incredible feedback from our businesses, from our restaurants, and we're committed to work together to make sure that we minimize and eliminate those kind of activities," Newbille said.

Operation Safe Shockoe

Looking further ahead, the city is launching a broader prevention effort aimed at changing the culture inside Shockoe Bottom's nightlife scene before violence has a chance to start.

Greg Hopkins, director of Richmond's Office of Gun Violence Prevention, said Operation Safe Shockoe will run from April through December and will center on an ambassador program that works directly with nightclub owners, promoters, and DJs.

"The goal is to promote positive interaction. We want to make sure when they come into that door and operations, that they have an opportunity to be promoted with positive campaign awareness about peace," Hopkins said.

WATCH: Shockoe Bottom bar workers 'never heard gunshots happen for that long'

Hopkins said ambassadors will focus particularly on the period around last call, when tensions can escalate as crowds spill out of venues and into the street.

"We want to prevent that. So when we start this process, working with DJs, club owners, promoters, when they start promoting these parties, we want to have our fingerprint on it, to have the first opportunity to say, hey, look, we want people to have a good time, but we also want folks to be safe at the same time," Hopkins said.

Hopkins said the effort is about resetting community norms and engaging residents before violence occurs, rather than responding after the fact.

"The primary piece is, how do we engage our community members and get them to have a little bit more responsibility and a stake in this violence prevention effort here in the city of Richmond," Hopkins said.

Avula said the city will continue to pursue both enforcement and prevention simultaneously.

"There's clearly the prevention approach, there's clearly the enforcement approach. We will continue to lean into both of those and use as many tools as we can on both the prevention side and the enforcement side," Avula said.

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