Rochester 08' Crime Resolution
By: Jecoliah Ellis
Updated: January 3, 2008
Rochester Police Chief David Moore is on a mission after there were 48 homicides in the city in 2007. He wants to reduce the number of criminal homicides by 50 percent this year.
At a press conference Tuesday he said, "Were willing to do whatever it takes to minimize homicides whether its pulling resources from different areas and moving resources around."
To keep costs down, the chief says hes going to back off on police overtime. This could mean some investigators will be pulled off their cases and sent out on patrol, which may lead to longer investigations.
"There will be a consequence and in some cases those consequences will be negative," said Moore. The good news is 38 new city police recruits will be graduating at the end of January.
Chief Moore says one thing they could do is reduce field training for the recruits and get them out on the streets sooner. He knows whatever the department does it has to be bold.
"We need to be very diligent about how we attack those individuals because we know if we let up theyre going to be back out there and we cant have that."
The chief has the backing of his boss. Mayor Bob Duffy also has some other wishes for Rochester in 08.
"I hope we can cut the homicide rate in half, double graduation rates and then keep growing companies and jobs here. We had a big announcement from PAETEC this year, were hoping for another big announcement early part of 2008," said Mayor Duffy.
Chief Moore admits the 50 percent homicide reduction goal is cautiously optimistic. But he says his officers are motivated by the recent success of the zero tolerance crime initiative.
