The Island News received the following letter in response to the March 26th Rauch Report on the rise in crime in the city of Beaufort. We applaud Mr. Clement for being willing to share his story publically. Should you support Mr. Clement or have other comments, please respond directly to Bill Rauch at TheRauchReport@gmail.com.

<em>Mr. Rauch,</em>

<em>I was delighted to read your report on the increased level of crime in Beaufort.  This is something that my wife and I have been trying to shed light on ever since a drug deal went bad in January of 2014, 30 feet from our infant son’s window where multiple shots were fired. Over the last year we’ve heard gunshots on too many occasions to recall and we’re within a block of multiple shootings with injuries and the most recent murder earlier this year.</em>

<em>Yet the current Mayor and city council repeatedly tell us that Beaufort is a safe place.  We’ve even had a neighbor of ours that works for the city, tell us if we didn’t like the crime we should move. The Mayor shares our emails that we send to him with others without our knowledge.</em>

<em>We moved to Beaufort in 2010 to start family, start new careers (my wife is a nurse and I started my ad agency) and to renovate a downtown home. But, with the crime that is taking place around our home and the way that the current Mayor and city council responds to our pleas we don’t feel safe or welcome here anymore. Our plan has gone from calling Beaufort home for years to come (my wife’s family were all born and raised in Beaufort) to moving as soon as we can. We have another son being born in June and we hope to be out within a year after his birth.</em>

<em>Oh, I do have to mention that we were awakened again last night to gunshots near our home, 4 of them and the sounds of a car speeding away.</em>

<em>I wish I could say that this is a surprise, but we’re growing accustomed to the sounds of gunshots in downtown Beaufort and we don’t want our sons to grow up with what surrounds us now.</em>

<em>Thank you for bringing this issue to light when the current status quo is to pretend it doesn’t exist.</em>
<p style="padding-left: 330px;"><em>Sincerely,</em>
<em>Derek Clement</em>
<em>Address Withheld</em></p>