Minutes were taken by Greta Mosley of the 19WCA. Minutes were to be posted on the old 19wca.org after approval but there were problems with the website and the Association is slowly repopulating their new website at the same URL.  I'm posting them here for your convenience.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

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, Neighborhood Service Center Officer- Carl Dickerson, Andy DiMaria, Special Guest, Lt. Hill, Captain Tony Mc Mullen of SW Quadrant.

Attendance-14 residents

Introductions:

Moderator-John Borek introduced Captain Tony Mc Mullen of the Rochester Police Department.

John Borek: Reorganization of the Rochester Police Department will be discussed this evening.

Captain McCullen: We have revamped how the police are segmented throughout the city. We had two divisions one on the East side of the river and one on the West side of the river. Now, we have five sections. The sections are Lake, Genesee, Goodman, Clinton and Central. The Lake Section is comprised of the former Maplewood and Lake Section. The Genesee Section beyond Genesee River extends to include everything to the South of Elmwood Avenue and includes the majority of Mt. Hope Avenue (it includes the cemetery and Pelligrinos. Goodman Section includes all of the former Highland Section. Cornhill is now a part of Central (Downtown) and also includes Kodak Headquarters and the two stadiums, the High Falls Entertainment District and East Avenue and Alexander Street. The Southwedge is also a part of Central (Downtown) Clinton Section resembles mainly as it looked in 2004.

Our concentration this evening is the Genesee Section. As far as the University of Rochester is concerned, they will have one car beat, and an officer to assist them per day. As that officer needs assistance any officer within the Genesee Section will go and help out. All non-311 calls are handled by the officer (#263 car beat). Everything south of the canal to Elmwood Avenue until one hits the Brighton border.

As we move forward the police officers that are assigned to the Genesee Section will be primarily handling issues in the Genesee Section and can be reached at 428-9803 with an office on Jay Street.

The speculation that police officers would be drawn to other areas in the city is not true. We are looking for office space and adequate parking so that we can be centrally located.

The 7 car beats are being maintained well. In the division concept, you could have an officer assigned to Thurston Road being sent to an occurrence on Lake Avenue, Ontario Beach area. Our focus is different now. The officers assigned to the Genesee Section will be answering calls and roaming in the Genesee Section.

Over the past five weeks of the new section reorganization, we have shaved 1 minute off of our Priority 1 calls and shaved 2 minutes off of the Priority 2/B jobs. We are improving in the right direction. The Genesee Section is the third section.

Vacation picks that occurred at the beginning of the year before the reorganization will be honored. Going forward being short staffed at certain times during the year should not be an issue.

We have walking grants that will be used so that officers can walk with community groups in areas of concern. An e-mail was sent out (to the PCIC list and some groups have been contacted directly that had asked for the walks) but the response has been low (four people responded). This walk with the community was pursued because the community asked for it. I am hoping that after tonight we will see a better response. Any suggestions you may have on how to get more support from the community would be greatly appreciated.

John Borek: Will we have more foot patrols on the streets?

McMullen: Yes, we will have foot patrols.

John Borek: Suggestion: Perhaps this group can allocate a few meeting nights throughout the year to walk in the community with the police. I would like to propose concentrated mini-walks on commercial streets not the side streets for June, July and August 2015. We can subdivide it up to accommodate those that are older.

McMullen: Yes, the route can be predetermined by the group.

Lt. Hill: The length of the walk can be an hour or two hours depending on what the community wants. The walks have occurred in the afternoon, evening, (6 p.m.-8 p.m.) and 8:00p.m. – 10:00 p.m. The group does not have to stay the entire time. Typically the route is 2-2.5 hours long.

Resident: Has Teen Empowerment been informed about these walks?

McMullen: Yes, the Teen Empowerment director has been contacted.

Resident: I work with the group B.L.A.C. K. that assist youth at the Arnett Library and students have complained about officers that have been less than friendly (mistreated) when questioning them about issues occurring at the library.

John Borek: I would like to make a suggestion that we get a group of young people together to talk with myself and Adam McFadden and your group and you to get at the crux of the problem.

McMullen: We are open to working with groups to help solve issues and would like to work with your group. My goal is to get everyone on board and have the same message. We want to solve the problems at the Arnett Library.

Resident: We would like to see that the youth are spoken to when they are seen by police officers with a simple hello and “how are you doing today?” This would help alleviate their fear of the officers. The stares indicate that the children are doing something wrong. My group is about uplifting the Black community, getting to know the youth in our neighborhood, so we can help them with choosing alternative that benefits themselves and the greater community.

McMullen: As I reflect on society today it has changed; today children do not respect their parents, do not respect their grandparents, they do not respect each other, and sometimes do not respect themselves. We have tried Pastors on Patrol, and a host of others only to not meet our goal. I applaud your efforts and hope your project produces the results you want to see. We want to be a part of the solution.

Resident: What happened to “Officer Friendly”? These persons were at the grammar schools to have children interact with police officers. We need to get back to basics to encourage trust between the police and the children. The children were very inquisitive and when they saw them on the street they would speak to them. This program should return.

Lt Hill: We do have community outreach in the fall, spring and summer where we are at recreation centers, we bring drinks, popsicles and play games with the children to encourage interaction and trust. We have a total of four horses due to budget cuts last year. They are great for public relations.

John Borek: I would like to have youth advocates at our meeting next month. I am asking that everyone ask a young person to attend our meeting next month.

Lt. Hill: We attend Safety Net Meetings with Carla Boyce; she would be a good contact for getting in touch with youth that may have an interest.

McMullen: I would like to offer a challenge that everyone hear bring a young person to the meeting next month.

John Borek: Captain McMullen, thank you for spending time with us tonight.