After hearing complaints from noise-weary Newhallville neighbors, police canceled a planned training “night” shoot at its Sherman Parkway range.
The city is in the process of building a new indoor firing shooting range in West Rock to replace the current outdoor one at the Sherman Parkway training academy, where gunshots have been disturbing Newhallville neighbors for years.
In the meantime, neighbors have pressed for a halt to noise nighttime shoots. Top neighborhood cop Lt. Renee Dominguez sent neighbors the following email message to neighbors Thursday afternoon about the shooting range as well as demands for four-way cameras at intersections:
“Good Afternoon Everyone,
“I am excited to report good news to you all. After hearing your valid concerns Tuesday night regarding enduring another night of night shooting I let your voices be heard to Assistant Chief Reyes last night. He agreed, as did Chief Campbell, and I was told this morning that the night shoot scheduled for November 9th has been cancelled. There will be no further night shoots at the 710 Sherman Ave shooting range.
“I spoke with Lt. Criscuolo, who is in charge of the training academy, and he will be sending over some pictures of the current status of the new indoor range that is on schedule for a January 2018 completion date. I will forward these once I receive them.
“Finally, I spoke with Lt. H[erb] Johnson regarding the cameras. The 4 way camera for Shelton and Bassett has been ordered. I was unaware of this as it was ordered prior to my transfer, my apologies for not having this information to give to you Tuesday. We are waiting for it to arrive and once it arrives, the current camera will be replaced with the new 4 way camera. There is also a 4 way camera at Dixwell and Bassett which is currently operated by traffic and parking. While we can look at it if needed, Lt. Johnson is working on integrating those camera views into our current Milestone system for easier usage.
“Any further questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact me.
“Lt. Renee Dominguez
“District Manager Newhallville/East Rock”
Congratulations to the community of long time protesters opposing this nuisance in a residential neighborhood, especially Rodney "Rock" Williams and Marcus Paca, and many other residents who've waited years for this outrage to stop.
Until the range is shut down, it will continue to traumatize the residents.
This progress, but the solution is not yet in place.