ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The interim chief of Rochester’s Police Department is taking aim at violent gun offenders with a different tactic: Bringing in the Feds to help prosecute cases.

What You Need To Know

  • Rochester's interim police chief on Thursday announced a new tactic to deter violence
  • Federal agents will soon help in trying to stem this violent tide sweeping the city
  • More information on the plan is expected as early as next week
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“We want the violent gun offenders, or violent offenders, weapons, off the streets that are terrorizing this community, the everyday people who are going about their lives,” said Interim Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan, Rochester Police Department. “Leave them out of it. Leave them out of it. And we know who they are. Just go after them.”

The effort to get the suspects off the streets is already taking place, but now federal agents will join investigators.

“Federal rules are different,” said Herriott-Sullivan. “That's the whole benefit here.”

Chief Herriott-Sullivan says she’s working with the local court system and the Monroe County district attorney, along with the United States attorney, in an effort to keep the violent offenders in jail.

“But then for the U.S. attorney, that's at the federal level, so you're talking about federal court, and also local court,” she said. “And so that's a big part of discussions, with the U.S. attorney is going to be is, talking through that process and what that's going to look like.”

The plan has been a work in progress, but the recent shooting and killing of a mother inside her car with her children in the backseat pushed the chief to make the effort come to fruition now.

“I'm not going to have that,” Herriott-Sullivan said. “I’m not going to have it.”

She uses the arrest of Jarvis Lewis on Remington Street as an example.

“That's one of the people that was on the list,” she said. “He is a poster child, person I should say, for the type of person we want to see get charged under this, and that we can be confident it'll be a while before they can get out and terrorize the community.”

The chief emphasizes that this effort is aimed at violent offenders.

“Nobody wants to see someone sit in jail for a minor offense, but violent offenders who are wreaking havoc on the community … we've just got to do something else,” she said. “We have to do something else here. And, and so that's the place I've come to. We're going to get this done. Like I said, I'm not, I refuse, to allow the violent gun violators to terrorize the city. I'm going to do everything within my power, that I can promise you.”

The chief is releasing more information about her plans and expects violent offenders to start staring down federal charges as early as next week.