Rochester security team causes dip in crime

Back in March, we brought you the story about Rochester's first security team. It was launched to keep an eye on city-owned properties 24 hours a day. Since it started, some residents say crime has gone down significantly.

About six months ago, these were the only set of eyes patrolling Rochester City-owned properties. Now, 17 officers make up the City's security team on any given day.

"Back then when we did the last interview, we had old cars. Now we're in police cars, they're security cars that look like police cars, we get a lot more respect," said Eric Perez, a security officer.

The City of Rochester rolled out the security team in March in response to a spike in crime on city-owned properties. Residents complained about drug-dealing, vandalism and fires at vacant homes, community centers and parking lots.

One of the hot spots is this parking lot in front of School 33. Last school year, there were as many as 23 incidents of cars being vandalized, broken into and even stolen.

Elisabeth Allen has been teaching at School 33 for ten years. Before security officers patrolled this parking lot, she says broken glass on the ground would greet teachers almost every day after school. But now?

"It has changed drastically since that incident and since channel 8 came out. We did not have one single incident in the parking lot for the rest of the school year," said Elisabeth Allen, a School 33 teacher.

Vince McIntyre wants to keep it that way. He's the Chief of Security Operations. The team proved to be so successful, the City Council gave the team $100,000 in April to pay for new uniforms, more patrol cars and more officers.

"We're part of another set of eyes and ears for the police department as a deterrent from crime. The police officers can't do it all alone," said McIntyre.

Right now, security officers patrol nearly 250 vacant buildings. They look for things that are out-of-place, like an unlocked door, a broken chain or a broken window.

And this is only the beginning, the security team is expecting to grow even more by the end of the year. That's great news for many.

"As long as we have a presence here daily, I don't think we have anything to worry about," said Allen.

"I feel proud. It shows that we're doing our job. We're helping these people out, we're helping the community out because they do need our help, that's what we're here for to make them feel safe and it's working," said Perez.

The security team isn't limited to patrolling from their cars, it's looking into the use of officers on bicycles soon.