Mayor Evans, trying to combat bloodshed, declares gun violence emergency in Rochester

The bloodshed continues.

After a record-breaking year with city homicides, the rash of deadly violence has not waned. And, on Thursday, Mayor Malik Evans declared a "gun violence state of emergency" in Rochester.

Former Mayor Lovely Warren in November took a similar step − an action designed to mobilize police from multiple agencies, as well as mental health and other preventive services. As history has proven − at least the past eight months of it − gun violence has not been dented.

"I don’t have a magic wand," Evans said at a news conference Thursday. "I want to be clear. ... What I do have, like carpenters have, are various tools."

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What does declaring a gun violence state of emergency mean for Rochester?

Asked for specifics about the emergency declaration, Evans gave an example of the ability to shut down streets if they were proving particularly problematic. While this may seem an unusual option, the city has previously turned shorter streets that were popular drug thoroughfares into one-way streets, a move that did disrupt the drug trade.

In the past and in this case, an emergency declaration includes increased cooperation with police forces beyond the city police − a move that can trigger backlash from people or organizations worried about heavy-handed law enforcement. Most important, perhaps, is the emergency declaration includes regular reviews of anti-violence measures, including initiatives beyond policing, and decisions about their efficacy.

Evans said the police will also ensure added security around recreation centers and areas where youth are gathering.

"The trajectory, unless we change something, will be the same," Evans said. "We will break records in terms of the bloodshed and carnage we see in our streets."

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How many homicides have happened in Rochester this year?

Last year's 81 homicides were the most ever in the city, eclipsing a tragic record of 70 homicides that had stood for nearly 30 years. This year there have been 41 homicides, and 202 people shot in the city, Evans said. A triple shooting on North Clinton Avenue Tuesday left two dead.

The killings and injuries have painful ripples effects, to families, friends, and entire neighborhoods, he said.

Already this year, 438 guns have been taken from the streets by law enforcement, Evans said.

U.S. Marshal Charles Salina said this week that his officers almost daily witness the prevalence of firearms, and the willingness of people to use them. Salina previously headed the Service's fugitive task force for 15 years, and rarely was a fugitive armed when caught, he said.

"Now quite a few of them are arming themselves," he said.

"What I'm seeing, and what's concerning, is the younger kids that have guns," Salina said. "I'm talking from 13 to 17 years old. ... Some of the stuff, you see on social media, it's almost like a game. It's like an infatuation with guns with younger people. They don't realize the danger they're putting themselves in."

Evans said Thursday that some violence is the offspring of petty beefs over social media.

"We're seeing groups that are at war with each other," he said. "They're at war oftentimes because they don’t like what someone said to them on Instagram or Facebook."

The increasing participation of younger people in violence has been evident of late.

This week, two teenagers were sentenced for the attempted carjacking and murder last year of 71-year-old Richard Sciascia. And on Thursday, 17-year-old Elijah Rosa pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the shooting death of 19-year-old Johnel Ravenell.

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Retired Rochester of Institute criminal justice professor John Klofas and Irshad Altheimer, an RIT criminal justice professor who heads the research Center for Public Safety Initiatives, have studied recent city homicides.

"Over 60 percent of murders are traceable to known arguments and disputes that were identified in events before the actual shooting," Klofas said. "The next thing you know, somebody is shot or killed.

"It seems to me that this is a time when disputes of all kinds are more frequent, bigger, more hostile than in the past."

History will show whether an emergency declaration can, this time, be an effective prevention tool.

"We have work to do," Evans said.

Contact Gary Craig at gcraig@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at gcraig1.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Gun violence state of emergency declared in Rochester: What it means