ROCHESTER, N.Y. — At City Hall Tuesday, Rochester police and city officials had several reasons to applaud. In addition to promoting 11 officers within the Rochester Police Department, they're also recognizing their lowest annual lowest homicide rate since 2009. Of the 29 homicides in the city in 2017, 18 of those cases have been closed.

"We are always grateful when we have fewer homicides because obviously we look at them as numbers,” said Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli, “but actually there are people behind it, there are victims, there's family members, the people involved, so it has quite a ripple effect on the community. We are looking at this very hard to try and figure out what we have done that has been successful, but even more importantly, we need to look at where we can do better. So we are far, far from satisfied."

While the police department acknowledges the decline in violence, Chief Ciminelli says they prefer to look at longer term trends. From 2015 to 2016, yearly homicides rose from 35 to 42 respectively. He added there is still work to be done. Mayor Lovely Warren also acknowledged the 30 percent drop in homicides in 2017, but echoed Chief Ciminelli's point.

“Our work is not done yet. We have more work to do. One life lost is one too many,” said Mayor Lovely Warren. “We want to continue to work hard with the community, our clergy and other partnerships to know that we are in this together."

Ciminelli cited several policies that he believes may have contributed to the decline, including "Hot Spot Policing,” "Dispute Intervention" and targeting "persistent violent offenders.”

For more information regarding homicides, violent offenses, arrests and other demographic reports from the Rochester Police Department, visit this page.