ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Police Department says it cannot arrest its way out of the historic violence the city faced in 2021.

Interim Police Chief David Smith gave finalized statistics for 2021 on Tuesday.

While property crime was down from previous years, violent crime spiked.

There were 81 homicides in 2021, with arrests made in 41 of those killings. Close to 1,000 firearms were taken off the streets, Smith said.

Smith said part of the success in getting violent offenders off the streets came from the partnership with the U.S. Marshals Task Force.

There were 350 arrests made of known violent offenders, and 70 of those individuals were wanted by the RPD.

The interim chief said 2022 is looking like another tough year. He says the RPD must work with Mayor Malik Evans' administration and community groups on a multi-pronged approach to stop violent crime.

"This violence is not something we're going to be able to arrest our way out of,” Smith said. “It is based on a lot of social structure and social ills. We need outreach and we need partnerships and to help reach out to these youth who are susceptible to being drawn into this violent behavior."

Smith also spoke on the staffing shortages the RPD is facing, saying the department will widen recruitment and will share more details on a new officer wellness and resiliency program in the coming weeks.