Chamber & DDP ready to help combat violence

These statements are in response to the shooting incident that occurred in downtown Davenport over this past weekend.

Statement from Paul Rumler, President & CEO, Quad Cities Chamber

The Quad Cities has what it takes to build a prosperous regional economy. We are making traction in attracting residents, businesses and jobs to our region. Significant investments made across the Quad Cities by local governments, area businesses and other organizations are building a great place to live. We also have some issues that need to be addressed if we want to be successful and continue to grow.

A major component of creating a vibrant community is safety. The violence depicted in the security camera footage from the parking ramp in downtown Davenport early last Sunday was gut wrenching and is acting like a cancer on our region’s progress. Why would we allow this to be our reality? 

The Quad Cities Chamber appreciates the swift action from law enforcement and local government officials. We recognize that more action is needed to hold the individuals accountable. We as a region also need to fix the systems that are enabling this behavior to occur and be repeated. It will take many community stakeholders to engage - and that includes the business community. The Quad Cities Chamber is ready to help be part of the solution.

Statement from Kyle Carter, Executive Director, Downtown Davenport Partnership (a division of the Quad Cities Chamber)

Millions of dollars over decades have been invested to transform downtown Davenport to be a vibrant economic and cultural center of our community. We can not afford to lose ground on our progress; the level of violence across the entire region is unacceptable, let alone the most recent instance downtown. Public safety is paramount if we are to achieve our goals downtown and beyond in the Quad Cities. As the representative for our property and business owners, Downtown Davenport Partnership (DDP) fully supports the City of Davenport’s request for new resources, addressing systems enabling offenders and joining the table of community partners seeking solutions.  We will work closely with the City and our community stakeholders, and we appreciate the swift action from law enforcement and local officials.