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

Wednesday, September 30, 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, also Jay Grasso from Senators

At our last meeting we had a meeting about the shootings that occurred recently on Genesee Street and violence that occurs in our neighborhoods in general. Mr. Grasso also attended this meeting and talked to us about monies / funding that is available for a variety of initiatives that we may have in our neighborhood as long as they are in line with the Senator’s disbursement requirements.

1. Jay Grasso from state Senator Ratzenhoffer’s Office - In Monroe County we represent Riga, Chili and the bulk of the Southwest including the 19^th Ward. We will be opening an office during the second or third week of October and I will be the part-time staff person for that satellite office. We expect to be open a couple of days a week and will be available to set appointments. We have funds available for not for profit organizations, community organizations that are usually 501C3 organizations. The process involves the organization sending a letter to the Senator. The letter should address the following, who you are, who you serve, what you will be doing with the funds and how your project will benefit the community. The best way to get the funds is through providing education for the youth, after school programs, job training, and career development. The best way to get the funds is for afterschool programs. We realize that after school programs are necessary to help curb crime in the future. Please ask for the money, put a dollar amount in the letter, generally you should ask for 25% more-to allow for adjustments) no one ever gets the exact dollar amount requested due to number of organizations asking and the size of the district (300,000 people). Without your written request we cannot supply the funds. I realize that crime is a main concern and we are in the process of supplying Rochester Police Department (RPD) with monies (a small amount) that we received from the Department of Criminal Justice Services as are with other departments in the district and we spread to Buffalo. These funds were also given to the Amherst PD, Monroe County PD and Geneseo PD. Next year, we hope to be able to provide more money for RPD. We have also given money to the Libraries in town, Arnett, Phyllis Wheatley, Highland Library approximately 8 - 12k each.

Let’s say you don’t belong to an organization send a letter to Senator Ratzenhoffer requesting that he provide funds to support Public Safety in your community. Let your council person know and they will work with our office and we will try to coordinate bringing money to the city. There are different buckets of funds that we can pull from. A letter is necessary for any funds to be distributed and I can proof the letter to ensure all proper details are in place. We also have Community Development funds. There is a 100k going to fund a project in the area. As far as Public Safety is concerned, the money has been used in the past for security cameras, use funds to offset overtime for Police foot patrols. Our budget is April 1, 2016. Letters are needed by the end of December. Should we be pressed to disburse monies quickly due to the budget season ending, your letter would have to be on file in order for you to receive funding.

Question: Can churches receive funds?

Grasso: Yes, we have given funds to churches before, but they must prove that the purpose is non-denominational. It is something that we must review in detail that all of our requirements are met.

Should you be a new organization, pair with an organization to learn the process and gain knowledge about how these funds are granted, etc. There is wisdom in not reinventing the wheel.

2. Police Officers in attendance, Captain Tony McMullen, Lt. Hill, Carl Dickerson, and Andy DiMaria –Will report on the Arnett Boulevard situation involving teens firing weapons.

Resident: My issue has to do with the constant gathering of teens in the Arnett Boulevard and Warwick Avenue that are carrying weapons and the shooting of those weapons with disregard for neighboring youth and families in the area. They are storing their guns and drugs in a house on the Warwick Avenue and retrieving them at will. These youth have also been seen playing craps at the back of the Arnett Library. This past weekend, Saturday, my house was hit with a bullet going through my enclosed porch at approximately 9:30 pm. I am gravely concerned about our youth and the way they appear to be running rampant throughout the neighborhood without any restraints. These are teenagers. They are sitting on the curb, talking loud, playing loud music, etc. I am a homeowner. I called 911 to report this shooting and they sent an officer. The bullet is still in the wall in my house. The technician came to my home the following day in hopes of removing the bullet but it would destroy my wall.

My complaint is why are the youth allowed to behave this way? They travel in bunches and have chased people in cars while shooting at them. This is an ongoing problem. I have my own small children that may get shot. This is ridiculous and out of control. I am very concerned about this predicament. This is unbelievable. Someone needs to take action.

McMullen: I have had multiple meetings about the recent barrage of teen gatherings on Arnett Blvd. First, I like to say that we cannot control societal norms. We can enforce laws and can help mold change. We are restricted by law on what we can do. Let me explain it this way, we cannot walk up to anyone and demand that they leave a public area. At the Library on Arnett it is a public access facility and we have restricted people from coming back and should they return arrest them for trespassing. Pathways to Peace have helped us with youth that hang out in back of the library. They have tried to redirect them into different areas. When kids are rude it is not breaking the law and does not become the police’s jurisdiction. We have had people to ask us to go and clear a street corner or bus stop. Well, that is public space, we can go and see what they are doing mainly because they have not done anything wrong. We cannot ask for ID because they have not done anything wrong. As we dialogue, this evening let’s keep that in mind because the police cannot do everything you think that we can. I made those comments so that we can have a constructive conversation and I am listening intently to your complaints.

Resident: What about loitering on the street corner or bus stop?

McMullen: If they are not rolling dice or gambling, there is nothing we can do.

Officer: In reference to the vacant houses on Warwick Avenue they have been boarded up this week. We have searched houses looking for drugs and weapons. They should no longer prove to be an aid to anyone. It did appear that people had been hanging out there and there were empty baggies.

Resident: To help with the appearance of these homes, the shrubs are almost 8 feet tall. Cutting them down would reduce their ability to aid persons intending to do wrong. I understand that these are to be cut down per the Neighborhood Service Center (NSC).

Resident: Why don’t they use the playgrounds at School 16 and School 37? These teenagers like to play basketball. Years ago, there were supervised activities at these schools. Why aren’t we using them? I requested that Pathways to Peace attend this meeting this evening.

Mayoliz: We are here representing Pathways to Peace. We have activities throughout the year to mobilize students to engage. The way that they play today differs from how they structured their play in years past. Most students like to play with video games.

Borek: When the reorganization was being proposed, we were told that the police are supposed to have 20% of their discretionary time devoted to walk the neighborhood and talk with the residents. Since this reorganization took place, I am wondering where the officers are? Perhaps a meet and greet? Why can’t the officers stop the car and introduce themselves to the kids and those hanging on the street corners? I see some community policing happening but not to the magnitude that would make a difference.

McMullen: This is not going to happen overnight, it will take some time to have this implemented. We just moved into reorganization this spring. Most of the police officers on the street are relatively new with a little over a year’s experience. They are learning how to do the job (the criminal aspect of it) but also the more experienced officers have to teach them ownership of the section that they serve. They will have to be mentored to take on the belief of making sure that the areas they serve are well maintained, take ownership. When a violent act occurs in their area they should be perturbed about it and feel an obligation to obliterate the problem. This does not happen in an instance. The more senior officers are working with the new police officers so that they the quality “foot patrol” can occur. We are now more social with the community. The Police Activities League participate with youth by going shopping with them (Shop with a Cop), playing video games, the Madden Challenge, to try to build the bridges with the kids. When they see us in our uniforms, the kids do not want to talk to us, for fear of being labeled a snitch. This is a national issue, not just Rochester. So we are doing “out of the box” activities to engage the youth and create a bond. Staffing is a problem at times due to people getting pulled to the military, training, and injuries to officers, vacations (scheduled before the reorganization came into being and those requests had to be honored). We are trying to do more social activities in the community. However, our primary mission is to answer the 911 calls. We are relegated to outcomes for the community. When an emergency occurs, citizens want the police officers at the scene.

Resident: My comment is on behalf of the younger people. Most of the older people have forgotten that they too hung out on the street and talked loud they were young. And yes, I do agree that the guns and violence need to be curtailed but all of this comes down to parenting. The old style of parenting needs to be in effect. My homework, had to be completed before I went to bed, I had to be in the house when the street lights came on. Parents need to be on the children more and not complain when the police are doing their jobs. We all need to be accountable for what we can do to make the situation better.

McMullen: Thank you for that comment. I would like to ask that everyone bring a youth to the meeting next month. What we have now is a one-sided conversation. We need the youth to tell us their side of the story. Teen empowerment needs to be at this meeting.

J. Borek: I would like to invite Pathways to Peace, Ray Mayoliz to our meeting next month, October 28, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. (the last Wednesday in October). We will like for you to give a presentation next month. I would like to have the perspective of the younger police officers in the room to give us their take on dealing with youth and your observations.

DiMaria: Youth that we deal with are kids that do not want to deal with us on a voluntary basis. Typically it is a forced situation. We do fine with these youth. Carl and I get the time to talk to kids because we are easy going and can get on their wavelength. We get to deal with the youth on a different aspect than the patrol officers. Those officers are going from 911 calls to 911 calls. Our demeanor is more laid back and we are approachable. Half of the time the kids don’t want to have anything to do with us. We go to recreation centers, a corner or an area and talk with the youth. The youth that we do have interactions with we have positive engagement with them.

Dickerson: The kids that we want to reach are the kids that do not want to deal with us. It is almost like the “us- vs-them” scenario. How do we break that down, it is difficult to do.

DiMaria: We have had a seventeen year old to come in the office wanting to become a police officer. This was different, but welcomed.

Dickerson: We will be working with a not for profit agency that will coordinate the efforts of the police officers to go into the schools for a 2 hours block and engage (read, play games and work) with the youth to foster better relations and understanding among both. The officers will be dressed in plain clothes and eventually towards the end of the school year transition to uniform.