WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE)- There have been four different instances of violent crime in the City of Wichita in the last five days alone. The Wichita Police Department held a briefing this afternoon to discuss the increase in violent crimes.

"Together we are making sure that people are held accountable for this violence but our goal is not successful prosecution. It's great to have clearance rates, what we want is prevention," said Wichita Police chief Joe Sullivan.

Sullivan said the department has one of the highest rates in the country of capturing the people who are responsible for crimes like these. However, to be preventative he said they need the community's help.

At the conference he stressed that in most of these instances the people who were involved knew each other and it was targeted, not random crimes. He said the best thing the public can do is to pay attention to situations people around you are in and interfere if you notice anything.

"Know where your children are, your family, your friends. If someone is having a mental health crisis reach out and get them help," Sullivan expressed.

So far there have been 28 homicide victims in 2023 and 7 of them occurred this week alone.

Monday night a 14 year old boy was shot and killed near a Wichita park, Tuesday morning there was a double homicide in a residential area, two people were found dead after being shot in Old Town, and Friday morning what police are saying a murder suicide between a mom and son occurred.

At the conference Sullivan said the department has seen an increase in domestic violence related crimes. He says there are resources people should turn to if they are in dangerous situations like this or know someone who is.

With the increase of crimes in July Police Lt. Aaron Moses said with warmer weather more people are outside and the heat can lead to agitation. With triple digit temperatures expected this weekend he said the department is planning to add more patrols in certain areas, specifically Old Town.