Minutes were taken by Greta Mosley of the 19WCA. Thanks for the great work Greta.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Public Safety Meeting – 19th 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

Police officers in attendance Captain Tony McMullen, Carl Dickerson and Andy DiMaria

Introductions:

Meeting Discussion

Question: J. Borek- Since the Town of Gates is the closest suburb to the 19^th Ward, the question that I have comes up is due to the recent robbery attempt and car-jacking that occurred in the Town of Gates on Chili Avenue. "What are the Rochester Police Departments relations with the Town of Gates Police Department? Is it cordial?"

Response: We have a mutual respect for one another, we have open dialogue, cooperation and we work with each other without an issue. The Gates Police Chief is a former RPD city employee.

J. Borek: I had a significant reason to reach out to the Town Supervisor, Mark Assini recently and the cooperation, and give and take was a wonderful experience.

I also would like to make everyone aware that Pathways to Peace could not make the meeting this evening due to a spike of youth incidents, they would be unable to attend tonight and bring young people. They will attend one of our meetings next year.

On that note, we do not typically have meetings in November and December due to everyone being in Holiday mode. However, should there be a serious incident and everyone is discussing it on Crime Alert a special meeting will be held.

The City of Rochester is hosting a number of town meetings throughout the city regarding the use of body cameras by the Rochester Police Department. The Southwest meeting is scheduled for November 30, 2015 at the Danforth Community Center at 6:30 p.m. and will be posted on Crime Alert. Should you wish to learn more about the body cameras, please attend the meeting.

At the University of Rochester they have a program called the Neighborhood Ambassador Program. It is for undergraduates that live in our neighborhood that are assigned certain responsibilities to make sure that they are good neighbors. It is a really good program in that complaints about students in our neighborhood have dropped dramatically. They will be having a special gathering for students and the community this Sunday, November 1, 2015 at Brue Coffee in Brooks Landing at the corner of Brooks and Genesee it begins at 12:00 p.m. and lasts until 2:00 p.m. You will receive a free coffee while you get to know the students and your neighbors. Your attendance would be appreciated.

McMullen: I would like to go over two things we talked about at our last meeting regarding

Phase 2 of the RPD’s reorganization. In this phase, police officers will be housed in the districts in that they are assigned to work. Meetings with Deputy Chief Harris and they are in the process of either putting together a proposal or they will be hiring an outside firm to assist in finding locations suitable for the Lake Section, Genesee Section, Goodman Section. The Clinton Section will remain in the Tops Plaza, Central Section will also remain at their current location. We will not have any temporary locations. We have a couple of years left on our lease on Jay Street Section. Forecasting into the future, the earliest the section offices will be in place within the neighborhood is 2017.

The update on the Blue Light cameras are that we have asked for five 5 of them. They will be at Troup Street and Van Auker, one will also on the North end of Genesee Street at Kirkland, another at Jefferson and Flint Street, Danforth and York Streets, and Arnett and/or Warwick. These are locations requested but the installation experts may need to move them due to wiring, insufficient capacity, etc. They have been signed off on and the Chief is committed to the installation of the cameras.

Resident: My wish is that there is a camera on Turner and Devonshire Court due to suspicious activity.

Resident: My issue has to do with people parking wherever they wish on Arnett Boulevard (both sides of the street) during the day. This impacts the passage of school buses when school lets out. This is a safety issue.

Also, garbage cans are being left out by residents all week, this is unsightly (an eye sore) and not the way conscientious neighbors leave their neighborhood. People get angry and speed around. What are our alternatives?

RPD: Parking Enforcement should be notified. They actually work out of the Finance Department now. You can call 911 as well. This is what 911 can do to get the problem solved.

J. Borek: Please do not forget that the 19^th Ward Convention will be held on Friday, November 20, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. at the Danforth Community Center. We hope you can all attend.

My sincere thanks to the community and the Rochester Police Department for attending our meetings.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.