Present:  Chief Sheppard, Deputy Chief Wood, Commander List,  Crime Preveintion Officers Dimaria and Dickerson.  Councilman Adam  McFadden. Chair John Borek.  Frances Johnson, Lee Crist, Brenda Goff, Richard and Ellen Delaney, Terry Burdett Davis, John DeMott, Don Hanks, Bill Nichthauser, Ralph McAlister, Marita Smith, Dan DeMarle, Edward Cramp, Susan Link

A description of shootings in the Thurston Road/ Ravenwood Avenue neighborhood from Monday, August 20^th through Thursday, August 23^rd was presented. By Monday night additional police resources were deployed to deal with reckless endangerment and assault. These were not random acts. There are two groups who are attacking each other.  

Additional resources assigned have involved the Narcotics Division,  Project Impact,  Probation and Parole resulting in  one probation violation and an arrest for stashing a gun as a result of the Tactical Observation Unit’s involvement.   These are difficult arrests to make because victims will not press charges and people do not come forward.  RPD and the DA’s office are still working to get others arrested.   The Chief described these shooting as not quite a gang incident, more like  a group incident. 

Deputy Chief Wood emphasized that from a city-wide perspective, the SW still has been rather quiet over time.   There has been an increased level of violence all over the City of Rochester as well as nationally.  The lack of co-operation issue is huge.  People get shot or are assaulted and don’t cooperate creating a high probability  that no one will be prosecuted for acts of violence.  The  policing strategy  then becomes looking for parole and probation violators and proceeding through indirect channels

Commander List: stated that the SW quadrant has had the greatest reduction in crime--  Down 13 %.  This directly speaks to community involvement.

South Plymouth incidents :  A UR student robbed was robbed at gunpoint.   UR Security is  active.  The Crime Prevention officers are doing personal protection action with students. A  2^nd incident  was a House Party with a discharge of firearms.  A community member mentioned that the response time was over 30 minutes.  The Chief will look into the response time.

Burglaries  are down about 12% year to date.  

Frost and Genesee continues to be a hotspot.  The RPD is  working wit ha property owner who is out of state. 

Champlain is experiencing gang activity.  595 Jefferson (Plaza) continues to attract groups.

Businesses are having their driveways blocked by road work on Jefferson Avenue effectively cutting  off their livelihood.  A note was made for the Chair to contact DES Commissioner Paul Holahan.

Aberdeen/Post/Ravenwood cluster:  a beating, a stabbing, a shooting.  School 16 is empty.  There is an abandoned house. Some incidents  are specific to young kids. 

Adam talked about gang activity. There is a gang called the C Set Gang that is recruiting members through intimidation and assaults, threatening businesses and purchasing weapons with drug money. The gang is attempting a SW-wide footprint.   Adam considers this gang of young adult teenagers and twenty year olds to be the #1 threat to public safety in the SouthWest.

Copper theft.  There is a new technique for copper theft.  Thieves show up as workman and begin to do work on a house, but their intention is to steal the house’s copper piping and infrastructure.  If you see someone at an abandoned house and don’t recognize the person as either an owner or property manager , call 911.  The police will investigate.

Chief Sheppard stated that the number one defense against crime was to trust your instincts and call 911 when you observe something that does not seem right.

There was a discussion about residents too fearful to call 911 for fear of police coming to the complainant’s house and implicating him.  In that case, it was recommended that the Chief’s office be called at 428-7033 or the Neighborhood Service Center office at 428-7630.  If you do not want police to come to your house to take a report, clearly mention this.

WE MUST CALL WHEN WE SEE SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR.

Submitted by John Borek, Chair,19^th Ward Public Safety Committee  8/29/12

John W. Borek