Governor Andrew Cuomo will present his 2013 to 2014 budget proposal to the State Legislature at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 23. The proposal will likely top $130 billion. During his State of the State address earlier this month, Cuomo rolled out a load of new initiatives: he offered school districts extra funding to extend […]
Rochester Police Department
Posted inNews & Opinion
WEEK AHEAD: Sustainability meeting, RPD outreach, downtown planning, RCSD wants YOU
The coalition developing the Finger Lakes Regional Sustainability Plan will hold a public meeting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, January 16, at RIT’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability. When it’s finished, the plan will outline actions for improving the long-term sustainability of the region’s communities and natural resources, planners say. It’ll include recommendations […]
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Light turnout for first RPD Twitter town hall
The digital revolution will be…sparsely attended. Points for effort, but Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard’s first Twitter town hall (transcript below) attracted few participants — about a handful over an hour’s time. A few participants asked multiple questions, and the RPD filled the remaining time by plugging PAC-TAC and other police programs, sharing neighborhood crime […]
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WEEK AHEAD: Tweet with the RPD, True North expansion, Cuomo and guns
Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard will hold the first in a series of Twitter town halls this week. Participants can offer comments or ask Sheppard a question on any issue of concern, including bullying, gun violence, and gangs. The first town hall is from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, January 8. You must […]
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Fights return downtown
The Rochester Police Department and city and school district officials thought they found a way to stop young people from gathering to fight — or to watch a fight — in the Liberty Pole area downtown. Changes were made to the busing situation last year to reduce the number of young people downtown at peak […]
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Rochester police struggle with shootings, homicides
If you feel like the City of Rochester has been a more violent place this year, you’re right. Though still down from historical highs, homicides and especially shootings have taken an aggressive upswing in 2012. Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard held a press conference this morning to review third -quarter crime statistics. The news isn’t […]
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Rochester needs restorative justice
I spent a couple of hours recently with Dominic Barter, a former school teacher who has pioneered a form of restorative justice known as restorative circles. And I came away encouraged about the prospects for Rochester. Restorative justice is not about punishing the perpetrator of a crime — though it can and often does take […]
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Activists’ rally today will protest RPD action
A group of activists have organized a rally for this afternoon to protest, among other things, the police response to a march over the weekend. The rally starts at 5 p.m. at Washington Square Park and will be followed by a march to City Hall. In a press release, organizers say they applied for a […]
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ACTIVISM: Protestors denounce police response to march
A group of protestors say police used aggressive physical force and “chemical weapons” to break up a march, even though, they say, the officers hadn’t asked anyone to disperse. An informal group of protestors – not an Occupy Rochester contingent, as police and some media erroneously reported – held an anti-capitalism march Saturday. The procession […]
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE: RPD releases mid-year crime stats
Robberies, shootings, and homicides are up this year, but Rochester Police Chief Jim Sheppard, who gave his mid-year crime report this afternoon, says the public should consider the historical context. Violent crime, which includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, is up 4.8 percent from this time last year, from 904 to 947 incidents. Murders […]
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Police reorg brought faster response
Reorganizing Rochester’s police department improved response time and reduced overtime costs: That’s the finding of a new study by the Center for Governmental Research, a draft of which was obtained by City Newspaper. The reorganization was carried out by former Police Chief Bob Duffy, and it has become an issue in the Democratic primary campaign […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Campaign Q&A: crime, police, and the mayor
Public safety has become one of the biggest issues in this year’s campaign for Rochester mayor. In part, that’s because after a decline, Rochester’s murder rate has been rising. In part, it’s because one of the Democratic candidates is Bob Duffy, the popular police chief who retired to run for mayor. Duffy’s two principal […]
