YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – This week in our In-Depth segment, WKBN Community Affairs Director Dee Crawford spoke with Youngstown Police Chief Carl Davis about the “Impact Initiative” designed to curb violence, as well as his partners in that initiative.

Davis said he reached out to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine after he saw an increase in shootings.

“DeWine and his team graciously responded and sent a contingent of State Highway Patrol officers to come and collaborate with the Youngstown Police Department; the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office; the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Ohio Adult Parole Authority,” he said. “And what we do is, actually, we just announced, you’ll see some saturation patrols in the neighborhoods. And what we do is focus on the areas that have been selected by the Youngstown Police Department as areas where there’s an elevation in crime, and right now, as we know, that would be the South Side.” The initiative is ongoing, and Davis said the main purpose of the patrols is to impact quality-of-life issues.

“Ninety-five percent of the people in Youngstown are good, decent, honest people. There’s a small faction — probably 5% — that are creating these problems, and Impact Initiative is focused on arresting those individuals and taking guns off the street,” he said.

Davis said the department tracks where violence is occurring so officers can pinpoint problem areas. He said investigators have had to evolve, however.

“These young people now are using social media. They’re using social media to make threats back and forth with each other. One group offends the other group, and these young men, if they’re offended by that, they’ll take a gun and they’ll resolve their issues by going out, shooting each other,” he said.

Wednesday, we talk to the chief about the biggest challenges in solving the recent crimes of violence. You can watch that on First News at 5 p.m. or later on WKBN.com.