ROCHESTER, N.Y. – At his annual crime news conference, Mayor Malik Evans was surrounded by his team as he shared the city’s crime report card. The major subjects compared to previous years show gun murders, shootings, and victims are all down.

Here are specific numbers the mayor wanted to point out for this year:

– The number of shooting incidents where someone gets hurt is down 36%.

– The number of shootings where someone is hit by a bullet is down 32%.

– The number of people killed by a gun this year is down 35%.

Mayor Malik Evans: “One of the things that concerned me the most during the pandemic was the number of young people under the age of 17 that were being hit by gunfire. And we wanted to bring those numbers down.”

News10NBC Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean has been watching the numbers closely this year. From January to August, the city averaged one murder a week. From September to now, it’s one murder every two weeks.

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “And other than school going back in session, I’m wondering what happened?”

Chief David Smith, RPD: “When you’re on the open data portal Berk, you actually look at shooting victims. They decreased this year starting in June. Decreased through the summer months. Decreased from June until now, which is unheard of.”

Mayor Malik Evans: “The key thing we have to zero in on here Berk is the shootings. If you can drop down the number of shootings that means you’ll have less people killed in a homicide.”

One thing that changed on Labor Day was the state added troopers to help patrol the city. News10NBC just found out they’re staying until the New Year.

At his annual crime update at City Hall, the mayor acknowledged the hard work that so many people do. He pointed to one neighborhood with a newsworthy change in the old 10th Ward near Edgerton Park.

Kareem McCullough was a teacher and principal. One day he asked his students how many had faced violence.

Kareem McCullough, Area U: “And out of 10 kids I asked, nine of them had experienced some type of violence.”

So he started “Area U” where they talk to each other, have fun together, and take trips together.

Kareem McCullough: “And it’s changing the community around it.”

This is what the mayor said about this neighborhood at the end of 2021:

“At the end of 2021, we had 20 homicides in the 10th Ward. We had eight last year. So far this year we’ve had two.”

Berkeley Brean: “So what are you doing that makes this kind of change?”

Kareem McCullough: “I don’t think it’s a one-person thing. I think it’s a community thing. And what I see happening is, I see young kids, I see older kids, I see adults coming in and finding a place and a space that they can get services, they can get help. And they can commune with each other.”

Berkeley Brean: “Do you get a sense that things are changing here? That the feeling is different?”

Kareem McCullough: “I believe there is a safer atmosphere here now. A lot of times when you come at night you see people still out and not in a violent way. You see people out having fun.”

News10NBC learned on Thursday that RPD confiscated 1,174 guns so far in 2024. More than 500 of them are guns that were used in a crime.

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