Rochester law enforcement speaks on rampant car theft

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Law enforcement from across Monroe County is asking for help after they say the number of stolen vehicles is getting out of hand.

The Sheriff’s office, Rochester Police, Webster Police and a slew of other agencies just finished briefing us.

The Sheriff’s Department says there’s been a 330% increase in the number of stolen cars this year compared to last, and we have the highest number of stolen cars in all of New York State.

Local police departments say they’re just bumping from one parking lot to another taking reports of stolen cars, and then chasing after stolen cars, and then chasing after the teens who are stealing the cars. 

It’s become a vicious cycle that has turned dangerous. 

At Thursday’s press conference, RPD and other local officials asked for funding for a new detention center that keeps teenagers from being released back out onto the street after being arrested.

Wednesday night, a sheriff’s deputy was hurt when he was hit by a stolen car that was apparently being driven by a teen — who was already facing an appearance ticket for stealing a different car.

It’s clear that law enforcers are fed up, as is the community. 

“We need a 24-hour facility where we can bring them, where they will get intervention services, where we mandate that their family comes in and gets intervention services,” says Deputy Korey Brown with Monroe County.  “We need to hold parents accountable. We need parents to be accountable for their kids and where they are, but what we also need is for the parents that are desperately trying to control their kids and are not having any luck, we need to support them.”

The sheriff’s department, along with a number of other local agencies, say they’re working with the county to see if something like that would be possible. They’re also urging state lawmakers to look at the issues and come up with some solutions of their own that will help.