ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Police Department is spending the week along Lyell Avenue in an effort to tackle problems that have persisted for decades.
They’re targeting abandoned buildings and storefronts that have become a hot spot for drug activity, prostitution, noise complaints and other issues that lead to problems for the people who live in the neighborhood.
While crime data shows there are a fair share of problems in this section of the city, that data doesn’t tell the whole story. “Being out here walking, targeting what people out here want from us. We have to, at times get away from the data maps, get away from computer screens…let’s go talk to people about what the real problems are,” Capt. Greg Bello with the Rochester Police says.
For the next week, day and night, officers will saturate the area. The RPD command van is parked in the neighborhood and dozens of officers will be out of their cars, walking, talking, and watching.
RPD did similar outreach along North Clinton Avenue a few weeks ago. “On Clinton Avenue there was a daycare that was right across the street from open air drug markets and drug houses and to get those cleaned up, to help the daycare be a safe haven for children was phenomenal,” Bello says.
Rochester Police Chief David Smith tells News10NBC his biggest concern along Lyell Avenue is sex trafficking. “What drove these folks to get into this trade in the first place, how do we break the cycle, how do we get them into treatment, how do we break the cycle, how do we get them help. So, that’s a big component of the Lyell Avenue initiative, it’s not just enforcement but trying to do outreach that is more than just here’s a bottle of water and some chips and here’s the phone number for someone to call,” Chief Smith says.
Chief Smith has also directed his officers to go into businesses and talk directly with owners about what they see, what they want to see and how they think his department can help. “They don’t have time to come to a speak to council, they don’t have time to come to the neighborhood meetings…I learned a lot just by going in-person and walking North Clinton Avenue and talking to the folks who run the Family Dollar, the folks who run the daycare there, the gentlemen who runs the auto repair shop about what his concerns are,” Chief Smith recalls. And then looking for solutions, be it a law enforcement or other city agencies, like code enforcement, general services or the law department.
RPD started the initiative on Clinton Ave, this week they are on Lyell Avenue. They plan to move to additional neighborhoods later this month.
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