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Nov 21, 2024
Public Safety

Mayor Evans: ‘Custom solution’ methods that drove down gun violence also apply to non-violent crime

Mayor Malik D. Evans announced today that the same focused collaboration among law enforcement agencies and City partners that brought gun violence to pre-pandemic levels are also being applied to non-violent crimes.

“The lessons we’ve learned while bringing gun violence to pre-pandemic levels have taught that sometimes our biggest problems require a hyper focus on the people, places and patterns that have a disproportionate impact on quality of life,” said Mayor Evans. “These partnerships and data-driven investigations are proving to be very effective in developing custom solutions to crimes that have a disproportionate impact on the quality of life of our residents.”

Mayor Evans said that since he declared a Gun Violence State of Emergency in January of 2022, gun crimes are continuing to fall. He cited the following metrics: 

Earlier this month, the rolling total of shootings that occurred in the previous 365-day period fell below 200 for the first time since June of 2020; and the three firearm related metrics tracked under the New York Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative have all fallen below their five-year average by more than 30 percent:

  • Shootings: -38 percent;
  • People injured by gun fire: -34 percent;
  • Firearm related homicides: -32 percent.

Repeating his refrain that he is ‘gratified but not satisfied’ with this trajectory, Mayor Evans said the Gun Violence State of Emergency will remain in effect. But he also cited several examples of how the partnerships among other law enforcement agencies and community partners are being applied to confront non-violent crime. These include:

  • Retail Theft Details with the State Police that use data-driven investigations to identify the patterns of known, habitual shoplifters;
  • The frequent use of a State Police helicopter to track large hordes of ATVs and dirt bikes on city street back to their source, resulting in the confiscation and dismantling of more than 150 of these vehicles;
  • Daily Rochester police officer walking patrols to confront the challenges posed by homeless people along the Monroe Avenue commercial corridor;
  • Using Department of Environmental Services resources to alter street patterns that contribute to disruptive and sometimes violent behavior in such areas as Martin Luther King Jr. Park; Parcel 5 and the East End Entertainment District; 
  • The continued decline of motor vehicle thefts since the creation of the Monroe County Department of Probation Juvenile Enhanced Diversion Stabilization Program, which has a recidivism rate of less than 3 percent;
  • The Advance Peace: Peacemaker Fellowship intervention program that has contributed to reduction of homicides in the 10th Ward from 20 in 2021 to two so far this year.

“As I look back over the past three years, I recognize that the plague of violent crime that held a firm grip on our city at the start of 2022 was an unprecedented challenge that we’re confronting with unprecedented levels of collaboration both inside and outside of City Hall,” Mayor Evans said. “When I took office, ‘It’s we, not me,’ was a mantra. Today it is the operational framework of my Administration and our relationships with our partners and allies. And for that, I am extremely gratified.”