ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Federal, state and local law enforcement are now partnering up in Rochester to help the city address the recent wave of violence.


What You Need To Know


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Camp Good Days’ Project TIPS — which stands for Trust, Information, Programs and Services — aims to bring resources to neighborhoods.

“You can apply for a job right back there,” Director of Community Initiatives at Camp Good Days, James McCauley, said. “You can get your teeth cleaned, your eyes checked. You can get free toys. You can get free bicycles.”

But it also aims to build trust between the community and law enforcement partners.

“I speak to the state police all the time,” McCauley said. “They say the only time we get to come into a community, when we’re not coming for somebody, is through TIPS.”

Which is why the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office used the event to voice support for the Rochester Police Department as violence continues to rise in the city.

“We have kids with AK-47s and AR-15 rifles, doing team tactics, daytime assassinations of beautiful human beings — a mother with her two children. Whatever we can do, we will do,” Sheriff Todd Baxter said.

The MCSO, along with other agencies like the Gates Police Department, will be in the city to help with targeted and strategic enforcement aimed at violent gun offenders.

“We don’t want to be the occupying force, we want to be the helping hand,” Baxter said. “We want to be there to respond to the next shooting with sufficient resources to make an apprehension and grab these bad guys as quickly as possible, and take them where they need to be. And that’s the Monroe County jail.”

The RPD will also be getting assistance from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the ATF.

“The FBI is in full support of partnering with the RPD, as well as our ATF partners, in mitigating and disrupting the violence in Rochester,” Rosa Ford, a supervisory special agent with the FBI, said.

That means, in some cases, federal charges could be brought against violent offenders. Under current state law, interim Police Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan says one recent defendant was released on bail for a murder charge.

“The goal here for me is simple: that when people are arrested for those violent, gun-type incidents, I want them to stay in jail,” Herriott-Sullivan said. “It’s that simple.”

But because anti-police sentiment remains high in the city, she also wants the public to know ordinary folks will be left alone. She says this is about keeping Rochester’s children safe from gun violence.

“People want to feel safe, and they want to be able to just live their lives without worrying,” Herriott-Sullivan said. “Parents want to be able to send their kids to school. I can speak to you as a parent, my daughter attended The School of the Arts.”