Community forum held on violence in Rochester

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — After nearly a year of rising homicides and gun shootings in the City of Rochester, officials, advocacy groups and community members gathered this afternoon to discuss gun violence at an open forum to the community.

News10NBC’s Jenny Ly attended the meeting and reports on some of the progress that came out of that meeting.

The media was not allowed to sit in and listen to the proposals being presented to law enforcement. However, aside from the specific ideas, the main point agreed on by all, is that discussions are happening and progress is being made.

“We are here today to save our legacy. We cannot – all of us – we cannot tell future generations that we sat back and did nothing while our men and our boys murdered each other on the street,” said Mike Johnson, founder of Save Rochester, a community-based advocacy group.

The push continues for more open dialogue conversations about curbing gun violence and improving the safety of Rochester neighborhoods.

“I demand those who do the strategic planning to go to the barbershops, the salons, the churches and the businesses in the community. Talk to people at the elder high rise, at the low-income housing and the high-income housing… what do they say they need for safety in their community?” said Dr. Kiah E. Nyame, coordinator of the Office of Neighborhood Safety for the City of Rochester.

City of Rochester employees like Dr. Nyame stress the importance of working across multiple groups and hosting frequent gun forums to get better answers.

“It’ll be totally community-driven, not city hall driven,” Dr. Nyame said.

After a violent summer, Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley says shootings and shooting victims are slightly down, but there is still more work to be done.

“It’s a good sign that the numbers have slightly decreased this month, but it’s only one month. We have to keep going. We have to stop killing one another we have to get these illegal guns off the street and make our community safe for everybody,” Doorley said.