By Bud Lowell
Rochester, NY – Half-a-dozen democrats on the Monroe County Legislature want to establish a permanent violence reduction task force. It would be a panel including all levels of government, law enforcement, private agencies and neighborhood groups. And it would plan ways of decreasing violent crime.
Democratic leader Todd Bullard submitted the proposal, along with Democrats Christopher Wilmot, Ronnie Thomas, Bill Benet, Willie Lightfoot and Jose Cruz.
They say aggressive local, state and federal crime-fighting has brought a welcome reduction in violent crime across the Rochester area over the past decade. They also say they're worried that the countywide murder rate rose last year over 1999 levels. They say now is the time to make plans, before violent crime takes off again.
A permanent violent reduction task force was a recommendation eight years ago from a blue-ribbon panel that studied community violence in the Rochester area. The proposal was never implemented, although others were.
Bullard says the legislators drafted their proposal before the recent shooting incidents that hit Rochester during the first two weeks of the new year.