Geneva adopts gun drop off program

It was unanimous; the City of Geneva is adopting a gun drop-off program similar to the one in Rochester. The program was proposed in response to the spike in violent crime on the streets of Geneva this summer.

Starting next month, the City of Geneva will be accepting illegal, unregistered guns with no questions asked.

"We're not talking about hunter's guns, illegal guns the ones that are going to hurt people," said John Greco, the Deputy Mayor of Geneva.

Modeled after the City of Rochester's Gun Drop-Off Program, the Gun Amnesty Program in Geneva will also be supervised by local religious leaders and police officers. Each month, guns can be taken to the Salvation Army in exchange for a gift certificate from a local business. They say this is one of several ways to combat the recent spike in violent crime.

It may not be voted on Wednesday night, but another hot topic during the city council meeting was the youth curfew. While many members from the Safety Task Force support it other residents I spoke to say they aren't so sure it's the answer.

"I don't think most of the crime is committed by youths, it's mostly adults," said a Geneva resident.

"I'm not sure it's the answer. I want to know how they're going to enforce it is the big question I would have I'm all for getting kids off the streets at a certain hour, but I'd be interested to know what the plan is to enforce the whole thing," said Carl Wenzel, a Geneva resident.

The Geneva City Council asked the 25-member Neighborhood Safety Task Force to come up with recommendations for the youth curfew. Modeled after the City of Rochester, Geneva would like to keep kids under 18 inside after 11 p.m. or midnight.

"We are supportive of a curfew if it is done on a trial basis. We need to assess enforcement and staffing issues related to that and his input is one in the largest input into the discussion," said Richard Rising, Geneva City Manager.

The police chief also lent his support at Wednesday night's meeting.

"We'd support it if it's passed by city council providing they provide us the funds to run the program properly," said Frank Pane, Geneva Police Chief.

Council members are scheduled to meet with the task force Thursday night to zero in on recommendations for the curfew. After that, they plan to put the issue before residents for their input.