Rochester mayor Malik Evans has announced a new campaign to calm the surge of violence in the city. The Rochester Peace Collective brings together non-profits to enact violence prevention programs. Evans says the effort to get this into place is already underway, and will be funded with $5 million in pandemic stimulus money.
In a Wednesday news conference, Mayor Evans said the city has been working on countless programs to combat systemic racism, poverty and other issues they believe is causing crime in Black and Brown communities of Rochester.
Interim Police Chief David Smith said the department has added two more investigators and a supervisor to the homicide unit. He says the RPD has recovered 236 guns so far this year, making 172 illegal weapon arrests despite short staffing issues.