Fewer bullets are tearing through Rochester neighborhoods as reported shootings and gun homicides continue to decline.
A 365-day rolling total of reported shooting victims fell to 150 on May 11, the lowest point since December 2018. At the peak of the city’s gun violence epidemic in 2021, that total soared to a high of 426 shootings in a year’s time.
“We are beyond pre-pandemic levels now,” Rochester Police Chief David Smith said at a news conference May 14. “We are way below where we started this.”
How many people have been shot in Rochester this year?
According to police data:
Gun violence in many cities, including Rochester, is heavily influenced by weather. Most of the city’s shootings take place over the summer months, when there are more opportunities to gather and heat helps tempers flare. Several weeks of extreme cold and snow could have contributed to a quieter winter.
Foot patrol in Rochester part of policing
Smith said the data reflects RPD’s commitment to patrol known hot spots for gun violence and efforts to solve more non-fatal shootings. The city is broken down into about 10,000 street segments. All of the city’s shootings take place on less than 5% of those streets, he said. Rochester police officers are required to spend at least 30 minutes of their shift walking troubled areas.
“Despite what you hear over and over about hot spot policing ― that it is throwing people in cars and throwing people against cars … Hot spot policing is foot patrol,” Smith said. “Dr. (Christopher) Koper proved in multiple studies that a police officer doing a random 15 minutes of foot patrol in a targeted area has a significant influence on violence.”
Mayor Malik Evans said he will keep the city’s gun violence emergency in effect until there are zero shootings within city limits. He has renewed the emergency order monthly since July 2022 ― a total of 45 times.
You can find the city’s crime statistics on the RPD’s Open Data Portal.
— Kayla Canne covers community safety for the Democrat and Chronicle with a focus on immigration, police accountability, government surveillance and how people are impacted by violence. Follow her on Instagram @bykaylacanne. Get in touch at kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Shootings drop to lowest level in years in Rochester
Reporting by Kayla Canne, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
