Minutes were taken by Greta Mosley of the 19WCA.  After approval the minutes are to be posted at:  http://www.19wca.org/home/committees/public-safety-documents.  I am reposting here for your convenience.

January 29, 2013 Minutes:  PresbHm01292014.doc

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Public Safety Meeting – 19^th Ward

Location: Rochester Presbyterian Home

Time: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

256 Thurston Rd

Rochester, NY 14619

(585) 235-9100

Minutes:

Moderator-John Borek

Scribe: Greta E. Mosley

Introductions

Agenda

1. Report from Crime Prevention Officers – Southwest Neighborhood Service Center (SWNSC) as of (Jan 28, 2014)

2. Ideas for the $50,000 allocated to the Southwest Neighborhood

Notes

Five people (16) neighbors were in attendance. Sign in sheet attached.

Per Crime Prevention Officers- Within the last month

Significant issues:

1. 284 Genesee Street Young man, 24 yrs old had a loaded 22 caliber gun, officers saw 4-5 people fighting and officers were able to retrieve the gun from suspect. He had marijuana in his possession and the hand gun was retrieved.

2. 72 West Avenue- Street robbery- as victim was walking home, suspect had his hand in pocket as he approached on foot, acting as if he had a gun, but there was no weapon.  Victim said he did not have anything and fled west and everyone was being chased but when they saw Rural Metro ambulance looking at him, they stopped. Assumed police were called by Rural Metro.

3. 995 Genesee Street-Victim was at Boulder Coffee and noticed 3 suspects – Upon leaving Boulder Coffee and returning to his home; the suspects followed him to the hallway and knocked down victim taking his Iphone and laptop computer. Will check camera at Boulder and the University of Rochester.

4. 337 Genesee Street- (Corner of Genesee and Frost) - Homicide-Rural Metro was flagged down by someone and directed to the victim that was shot in the head—dead.

5. 773 Genesee Street-Family Dollar- suspect asked where the candle holders were—Then walked around the store-then returned a short-time later at the counter and asked for all the cash in the drawer or I will shoot you in the face. There was 225.00 in the drawer and given to him and he immediately fled the scene. Suspect did not display a gun.

Robo Calls-To Police Officers

Question by attendee-I received a Robo call about a burglary that was of no consequence to the area in which I live-but I did go over security and emergency procedures with my household members.

Police: This call concerned itself with the Genesee and Thurston Road area. At the beginning of the month there were no burglary activity and then all of a sudden there were about 9 or burglaries in the area-no real pattern. This call was sent to just alert people to be mindful that everyone must stay vigilant in their efforts to take every precaution to not “invite” burglars into your home by locking doors and securing your property.

Attendee: This call was very vague and not very informative-the area mentioned was too large and no real information to have an affect-on how to prepare myself. This call did nothing but get the household in a panic-so, how can we just issue those calls when they are relevant? The calls are only 20 seconds in length. Most of the time they are generic and brief and you are told to contact the neighborhood service center.

Police: This particular call was done as just a reminder for people to continue securing property and be mindful that this was going on in the 19^th Ward—Just an information piece. I understand that this caused a stir on the 19^th Ward Facebook page. People should just call the Neighborhood Service Center to get more information about the situation.

Question by Attendee:

Neighbor on my street leaves his house vacant for months at a time. Sidewalks and driveway is not shoveled, no lights ever come on, no mail delivery. How can the neighborhood on this street handle this?

Police: It is an invitation for a burglar to target the home. But there is no official stance on this matter.

Attendee: Perhaps, the neighborhood could write a letter about the predicament this puts the rest of the occupied homes in by not providing the appearance of the home being occupied.

Other Discussions:

Schedule for Meetings—Meetings are usually held on the last Wednesday of the month and when there is a conflict no meeting will be held. Specifically, No meeting in November due to the Thanksgiving Holiday and No meeting in December due to the Christmas Holiday.—this was voted on by attendees and all attendees were in favor of this schedule.

An Attendee gave an overview of the meeting with Sandra Doorley, District Attorney on Tuesday, January 28, 2014

This meeting was informative for the 25 attendees. Ms. Doorley gave a Power Point presentation of the kind of cases that they handle and how they dispose of them by using triage method to react in a timely matter. She asked that should there be any questions, to stop her and she will respond. The meeting was useful. Her comments also included how she felt that women are taking over the business world; citing our new female mayor, herself as district attorney and others throughout the state and the country.

The budget for her department comes from 12.0 million from the state (state tax money) and 2 million in grants-total 14 million. Other funds confiscated at drug raids are considered forfeited funds and split between the Rochester Police Department and the District Attorney’s office. The funds have been known to be as significant as $200,000. Each authority (Chief of Police and the District Attorney) will determine what organizations will receive the funds. Community organizations are normally the recipients of the funds. A proposal will have to be submitted. Past recipients of funds from the DA’s office have included the Boys and Girls Club, an accelerated reading program, Project Step Up, Project Tips, Rochester Teen Court, Quad A for Kids, Citizens Police Academy, and Wilson Commencement Park. The Rochester Police department gets the majority of the funds.

Past Funds

2013 - $209,000

2012 - $69,000

2011 - $72,000

2010 - $82,000

In 2014 there are approximately $243,000 funds available.

Moderator-Obtaining these funds have been challenging for the Southwest to get an allocation for community activity as they are for the entire city. Police Administration is in control of disbursements. Maybe, we should identify a proposal early and submit to increase our chances of getting a better share. Now we can also submit to the District Attorney’s Office. Cut off date for fund allocation depends on the budget deadline.

Moderator

Observation:

Amy Nichols, city lawyer no longer with the City of Rochester-Handled the Code enforcement issues and business permits

The website for crimereport.com is out of sync with the city’s reporting system.

Police Response-there is a delay in getting information to their web administrators.

Moderator: We would like to have a tutorial on how to use crimereport.com website.

The group should request information for the Development Grant on Thurston Road. I understand that there was a charrette at the Arnett Library.

How do we get better attendance at this meeting?

Suggestion: Request that Jackie send out an e-mail with the dates of the meeting so people can record this into their planner. Also, there could be a meeting notice sent early and a second notice as the date gets closer by Jackie. These meetings could also be posted on Location 19 and the 19^th Ward Facebook page.

Moderator

Recommendation: Each department at City Hall should be invited to our meeting and give have citizens the opportunity to ask questions to get a better understanding of how to navigate that department to obtain results.

Possible Presenters:

Center for Dispute Settlement- is a possible presenter at one of our meetings-to talk about how they could be useful in handling neighborhood disputes before it gets to the Police Department.

The Acting Police Chief/New Chiefs to address our group.

Fire Chief is also a possibility to give an emergency medical service presentation.

Code Enforcement-Gary Kirkmire could possibly present on strategy and code enforcement problems.

Question from Attendee:

Is the City is back to a 4 Quadrant Policing Model.

Police: This is being proposed.

Attendee: How do you feel about it?

Police: It would be a good idea for the neighborhood to know their police officers.