Demanding police action.

This Wednesday the police chief and mayor will be in SW Rochester at 1:30. Wednesday evening is also the monthly PCIC meeting. We have had a number of continued crime issues in the neighborhood. Besides shootings, these have included car break ins. The typical response from the RPD when a car is broken into, is to not send any officers out, but merely to take a report over the phone.

I think as a community we need to demand from the RPD the same standards that we would receive if we lived in a suburban community. We accept lower standards from the RPD, and because we accept it, that it what we receive. One simple way to break this cycle is to start with having the RPD send officers out when a car is broken into. That does not mean necessarily taking prints, but having an officer actually show up. Just having an officer come out to write up a report means that they will be spending 10 to 15 minutes on your street. This itself serves as a deterrent and also lets your neighbors know something happened. People breaking into cars, know that the RPD will not follow-up or pursue them. This is obvious when the police never show up to investigate the actual crime. The same goes for other nonviolent crimes. A thief can go through multiple cars on the same street, and watch the entire next day and never see a police car stop to investigate any of them. What's the message to the thief, the neighborhood, and to the community? The message is we are easy pickings for small nonviolent criminals. But those crimes are the one's that most of us experience, and the ones that make people fear and distrust our city and neighbors. Its great to have the police show up after a violent incident, but that it like trying to put out the fire after the house has burned down. So if you go, this week to either event, remember to raise this issue with the mayor, the chief, and our officers.

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Permalink Reply by Margy Meath on August 26, 2013 at 9:05am

One slight correction: my understanding is that the meeting with the Police Chief and Mayor is TODAY - 1:30 PM at Carlson Commons. And, yes- we need to insist on more accountability from the City.

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Permalink Reply by Louise Wu on August 26, 2013 at 9:30am

Which is it? Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Louise Wu on August 26, 2013 at 9:30am

I agree with this.

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Permalink Reply by Margy Meath on August 26, 2013 at 4:33pm

This is a "cross post" repeated here:

So, i just returned from this very well attended meeting of mostly PLEX residents (it was a PLEX sponsored meeting). The Chief and the Mayor spent 90 minutes with the group along with some of the SW Crime Prevention Officers. Some of the 'themes' raised by citizens included the following:

concerns about known 'hot spots' (i.e. corners) where the bad guys hang out and little being done to move people along
concerns about SLOW response time from RPD (i.e. 30 + minutes) for significant calls to 911 (an example of a street brawl with bricks as weapons was offered)
a general feeling of unrest, worry and concern given the recent violence
a wish for MORE police presence including walking and interacting - and/or acting as a deterrent at known trouble spots
concerns from business owners who can't attract/keep customers because of crime and/or people hanging out in front of their establishments
a 5 year history of a known gambling/alcohol serving establishment with no solution to shutting it down even though the NSC administrator has been in the establishment and witnessed the criminal activity
a desire for more cameras and/or a portable camera to be placed at the current problem area in PLEX
a request/suggestion that current/existing cameras in the city are not well utilized as they are not always monitored
some residents feeling that RPD officers are dismissive of their concerns when they call
a strong desire for ANSWERS and SOLUTIONS to concerns

Some responses from the Mayor/Chief:

loitering is not against the law so the police cannot simply stop people from being on public sidewalks
there are laws about gambling establishments and this is something that can be acted on
citizens are asked to contact the CPO's re: delayed police calls (specifics needed) so this can be followed up on and addressed
there are a small number of individuals committing the really violent crimes in our neighborhood
the court system is part of the problem with smaller/less violent criminals not being held accountable for crimes
the cameras might solve one problem but create another (the bad guys just move to a different area)
RPD will develop an action plan to do "something different" in PLEX and it will happen within the next 48 hours

John, Marian and Joan may want to add some of their own notes to these as they were also at the meeting.

The issues related to the 19th Ward's recent crimes were not discussed and while I wanted to raise them I was mindful that this meeting was specifically organized for PLEX residents. BUT.... the general themes are the same as those i hear in the 19th Ward. The difference, in my opinion, is that the PLEX neighborhood association is much more organized, vocal and assertive about the crime issues and insisting on a clear response from the City.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Sweetland on August 31, 2013 at 12:23am

Margy mentioned that RPD will develop an action plan to do something different in PLEX. It was to happen in the next 48 hours. What is it?

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Permalink Reply by Margy Meath on August 31, 2013 at 8:19am

A couple of PLEX residents have commented that the street is cleaner than it has ever been, there has been a lot less loitering, RPD was on the street and a portable camera has been moved to a corner near the gas station. I drove down Plymouth last night and it did, indeed, seem very calm and quiet. Of course, the hope would be that the peace and quiet is lasting and the city continues with this type of commitment and response to the neighborhood concerns! PLEX appears to be well organized right now in their efforts to advocate for their neighborhood.

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Permalink Reply by John Boutet on August 27, 2013 at 12:59am

Both Monday meetings were very well attended. There were around 40 people at the afternoon meeting with Mayor Richards, Chief Sheppard, CPO's Kristin Runyon and Vinny Agnone and a Sergeant whose name I did not hear. Margy's notes cover that meeting very well. Here are a few pictures from that afternoon meeting:

There were 20 people at the evening meeting shown below at which we had 5 people answering questions: Adam McFadden, Dave Hawkes, Commander Tim List, CPO Carl Dickerson and another Sergeant I think.

One action item that came out of the evening meeting is that Adam offered to reintroduce a bill to give police a loitering ordinance to help them control people hanging out at street corners selling drugs and getting involved in crime. This would be introduced for use in designated "drug free zones" and hopefully avoid the unconstitutional ruling of a prior law. We would have to fight to get this bill passed through City Council. The last time Adam introduced this proposal it was shot down by the Council for fear of having it overturned. The mood of this group was definitely in favor of seeing such a law passed.
PLEX will write a letter of support for anti-loitering legislation and we will need to push to have all neighborhoods, merchants associations, block clubs and other organizations do the same.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Dobbs on August 27, 2013 at 1:19pm

As much I dislike the activities associated with loitering on street corner I dislike even more the idea of infringing on someone rights for the appearance of public safety.

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Permalink Reply by Margy Meath on August 27, 2013 at 3:42pm

The Mayor (who is an attorney) was pretty clear yesterday that loitering is NOT against the law AND that anti-loitering laws have been deemed unconstitutional in NYS (search google for background information). What WAS discussed at the afternoon meeting is a request for RPD to be more 'present' and visible to deter loitering behavior. NYC paid a 15 million dollar fine as a result of their illegal use of anti-loitering enforcement initiatives. As i was sitting downtown today having lunch near main street I saw an RPD officer zip by on a Segway.... maybe they could do some laps around Thurston and Chili during the evening hours!