PUBLIC SAFETY & QUALITY OF LIFE

Building a Safer, Stronger Rochester for All

From his first day as Mayor, Malik Evans made a clear commitment: making Rochester safer for every resident, every family, and every neighborhood. When he stepped into City Hall in 2022, Rochester was facing not one, but two pandemics — the health crisis of COVID-19 and a devastating surge in gun violence. Homicides had reached record highs, and shootings were occurring at a rate of more than one per day.

But with focus and innovation, Mayor Evans took action. And today, the results speak for themselves.

Since Malik took the helm, key firearm-related crime indicators have dropped significantly. By the end of 2024:

  • Shootings were down 53%
  • Shooting injuries had decreased by 51%
  • Fatal shootings declined by 49%
  • Overall homicides were reduced by 45%

Mayor Evans has introduced innovative public safety initiatives beyond policing:

  • Rolling out Rochester’s Vision Zero initiative to leverage education, enforcement, and engineering to decrease the number of crashes – making motorists, cyclists and pedestrians safer
  • Enabling the Fire Department to leverage data and mapping technology to improve emergency medical response times
  • Calling for increased focus on illegal ATVs and dirt bikes, and supporting law enforcement partnerships that track down, confiscate, and destroy machines that are driven illegally on city streets
  • Declaring and maintaining a Gun Violence Emergency Order to shut down illegal house parties and after-hours nightclubs, and institute a Special Events Zone in the popular East End District
  • Expanding Pathways to Peace across the Rochester City School District, offering intensive case-management services for the most at-risk high school students in and out of school hours
  • Maximizing the use of opioid settlement funds to help people with mental health challenges or substance-use disorders by engaging them as ambassadors as they find their way to services, housing, and inspirational purpose
  • Continuing to invest in and grow innovative programs like the Nurse Navigator program and the Person In Crisis Team, and establishing Rochester’s new ACTION Team, to ensure people get the help they need how, when and where they need it

This is what progress looks like. Rochester is getting safer.

As public safety improves, residents are reclaiming their neighborhoods, and business owners are investing in Rochester’s future. A renewed sense of hope can be felt across our city as Mayor Evans’s focus on public safety has come full circle and has improved the quality of life throughout Rochester.

“I am gratified – but not satisfied – with the progress we’ve made to make Rochester a safer city. Now that we have turned the tide of gun violence, we will maintain that success while continuing to tackle crime that negatively impacts our residents’ and visitors’ quality of life. From car break-ins and thefts to illegal ATVs and dirt bikes on our streets, drag racing, and aggressive panhandling – I commit to ensuring a continued downward trend across all crimes in our city, and working closely with all our city’s law enforcement partners to deliver peace of mind to all.” ~ Mayor Malik Evans