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Overall reported crime at midyear in the city of Rochester has declined for the third consecutive year. This half-year trend spans all categories and represents record lows in some cases.
Mayor Malik Evans, as he has said in previous years, does not want the city’s progress against crime to stop here.
“As Will Rogers once said, even when you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there,” Evans remarked at a news conference on public safety this week. “We are not just sitting there. We are moving forward with the work of ensuring that we make Rochester a safe city.”
From January through June, 3,254 crimes were reported to the Rochester Police Department, down 13 percent when compared with the same period last year, which itself recorded a 40 percent drop from 2023.
“As I always say, I’m gratified but not satisfied,” Evans said of the statistical improvement.
The largest decrease was in the number of burglaries, which fell by 45 percent, from 494 incidents to 268. Aggravated assaults and robberies were also down from 444 to 341, or 23 percent and 209 to 161 22 percent, respectively.
Counts of larceny and motor vehicle theft were also lower than in the first half of 2024, but not by as much, decreasing by 3 percent and 5 percent from 1,744 to 1,680 and 830 to 788, respectively.
Still, incidents of larceny dipped below 1,700 in the first half of the year for the first time in available RPD records. This is consistent with an overall declining trend, which was interrupted only in 2022 and 2023, primarily due to a rash of vehicle-related thefts.
On their own, motor vehicle thefts have fallen sharply after a dramatic spike in 2023.
“We continue to partner with the New York State Police as well as the county sheriff’s office and some town agencies in the Dove Initiative,” said RPD Chief David Smith on Tuesday. “They are very large manpower-intensive details that go out and look for stolen cars.”
Smith noted that renewed effort has recovered 105 stolen vehicles so far this year, operating once or twice a month. The special public safety detail partners the RPD, New York State Police, Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, as well as several suburban agencies, pooling resources among as many as 60 officers to combat motor vehicle thefts with investigation and traffic stops, as well as ticket and warrant issuances.
Even so, the 788-incident figure for car thefts still remains relatively high compared to pre-2023 levels.
As for geographical crime reports, a divide remains. The eastern part of the city still reports the most property crime (larcenies, burglaries, and motor vehicle thefts), while the Crescent neighborhood has higher incidences of violent crime (aggravated assaults, robberies, and homicides).
So far in 2025, most property crimes occurred in patrol beat 285, which includes the Mount Hope Neighborhood and the University of Rochester areas (230 incidents). Interestingly, just under 50 percent of all reported crimes in that beat originated from a parking garage at Strong Hospital or the university itself.
Other hotspot areas for property crime include patrol beat 273 (209 incidents) on the eastern side of downtown, including Parcel 5, Martin Luther King park, and the Eastman School of Music, and patrol beat 245 (208 incidents), which covers the East End district including Park Avenue and the Neighborhood of the Arts.
RPD is encouraged by the lack of violent crime in East End, however, crediting the special entertainment district zone as key to those efforts.
“I’m happy to report that we have had zero incidents of gun violence at the East End district since the special event zone began,” said Smith.
The zone, which began in 2024, only allows people 21 years or older and closes off several roads to the area on Saturday nights. City Council passed a local improvement ordinance in April to continue funding the security detail.
Patrol beat 245 is typically more concerned with property crime. The last couple of years saw increased reports of aggravated assault—14 in 2024 and 10 in 2023—compared with that area’s average of seven incident reports.
When accounting for crimes related to motor vehicle thefts, patrol beat 245 once again has the most reported incidents with 155 so far this year. Park and East avenues were the streets with the greatest number of reported motor vehicle crimes, which include thefts of (32) and from cars (28).
Decline in violent crime
Overall, violent crime has continued its downward trend. After reaching record-high levels of homicides in the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers in the last few years have been closer to the norms of the last decade. In the first half of 2025, there were 16 homicides, compared with 19 in the same period last year.
Victims of firearm homicides and shootings continued to fall as well. There have been 13 fatal and 69 non-fatal shootings to date this year, compared with 15 and 84 in the first half of 2024.
In fact, firearm-involved crimes of any type (which include fully and semiautomatic weapons, handguns, revolvers, shotguns, and single, bolt, or pump-action rifles) were also down during this period. The 223 recorded firearm crimes are the lowest half-year total since 2011 and come three years after a record high of 381 crimes during the firearm-heavy year of 2022.
The mayor credits this drop to efforts that his administration has made in combating illegal gun ownership and emphasizing the investigation approach when it comes to shooting cases.
“We have continued our process of investigating every single shooting as if it is a homicide,” said Evans. “It sends a message that, if you perpetrate a shooting, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure we arrest you and make sure that you’re held accountable.”
The city also continues to operate under a gun violence state of emergency, a measure first declared by Evans in 2022. The state of emergency has been renewed on a near-monthly basis ever since.
Under the emergency order, the mayor’s office has broad powers, including streamlining the process to block off streets, enact curfews and limit group gatherings. The Evans administration has issued nine closure orders this year with the emergency powers in areas such as a bar on Clifford Avenue that had a shooting in June.
Rochester’s fight against crime has several layers. While the numbers show progress, other efforts haven’t advanced much. For instance, a lawsuit launched against gun manufacturers in 2022 was given a stay order in 2023 and shows no signs of moving forward. And, while the Roc Against Gun Violence group, run by City Councilmember Willie Lightfoot created a solutions action plan and commissioned an illegal-gun study by anti-gun violence group Brady in 2023, neither has taken much legislative purchase.
Additionally, the reasons behind the COVID-19 pandemic-era spike and subsequent decline in crime are complex and uncertain. Irshad Altheimer, lead professor at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Public Safety Initiatives, notes that the pandemic’s arrival that spring and fallout over Daniel Prude’s death likely contributed to a record-high number of homicides in 2021.
“Policing plays a significant role in reducing violence, and some of the most effective violence reduction strategies involve police, but crime reduction is also predicated on how police treat the community members they serve. Aggressive police practices and/or police misconduct undermine public trust, tear at the social fabric, and eventually lead to more crime,” Altheimer wrote in a report for the 2024 State of Black Rochester. “Rochester witnessed this firsthand with the death of Daniel Prude.”
Shootings and firearm-related crimes continue to be the most common in the Crescent neighborhoods, which refer to the northeast, northwest, and southwest areas of the city. Similarly, the most likely victim of a shooting continues to be a Black man between the ages of 25 and 44, according to a Beacon analysis of RPD data.
A few good signs
Summer months typically see elevated levels of crime. However, this has yet to be the case in 2025. June’s total incident count of 549 was nearly identical to the average monthly rate of 542 so far this year.
The Fourth of July weekend was incident-free, similar to 2024 and unlike 2023’s record-setting six shootings in a single night.
Recent reports of disturbances at Charlotte and Eastman Durand beaches, which include a circulated video of a large fight among high school students in June, appear to be anecdotal, at least according to RPD records. While there was an early morning shooting incident at a playground in Ontario Beach Park in May, it is the only recorded incident at that area so far.
This could be due to the police ramping up patrols in those areas, although similar tactics have been employed during the summer months. RPD also partnered with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the Monroe County Probation Office, and Rochester Regional Transit Service in these efforts as well.
“Our staff duty officer (at the RTS transit center) now has the authority to turn buses around, so if we have large groups of teens going to the beach in order to try and create problems, we’re going to turn that bus around,” RPD spokesperson Capt. Gregory Bello said last month. “We’re not going to allow that bus up to Charlotte beach to cause problems.”
Some local leaders have expressed concerns over this approach. County legislator Rachel Barnhart in June wrote on social media in response to the measures: “I share concern over disruptions by youth in public spaces, but I have not yet heard of a comprehensive plan to deal with the issue.
“We have to acknowledge why kids choose the mall and the beach. They’re looking for safe, low-cost places to hang out with limited supervision,” Barnhart continued. “We need a plan that doesn’t just increase patrols and monitoring.”
She also mentioned that her conversations with Richard Tantalo, the Monroe County public safety director, made it unclear if youth outreach programs were included in this approach. (Bello did not mention them in his announcement at the time either.)
The mayor’s office does say that youth engagement is a key part of its approach to public safety. At the press conference this week, Evans praised the city’s R Centers’ ability to provide breakfast and lunch to children. All five city pools are open this summer, for the first time in several years.
Evans also mentioned the Summer of Opportunity Program, which recently kicked off its 2025 season. While the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions, from 2005 to now, SOOP and the Summer Youth Employment Program have seen an average of 2,500 applicants per year with around 700 to 800 job placements for youth ages 14 to 20.
The Office of Violence Prevention is relaunching its “Choose Wisdom” campaign. First started in 2023, OVP says it will empower youth and families to make thoughtful, safe decisions through public engagement events such as kickball, ice cream socials, and training opportunities aimed at adults.
The Peace Collective, a funding mechanism for 23 local anti-violence organizations launched in 2022, is in “round two,” Evans said. Some of those funds for the collaboration came from the American Rescue Plan Act, meaning that the programs will need external grants or city funding to continue.
“The numbers are moving in the right direction,” said Evans. “But I want to remind everyone that behind every number, there is a person. We really try to make sure that we zero in on the person for each of those numbers. For every shooting, for every fire, for every homicide, a person is affected by that and that is not lost on us.
“But we believe that by working together,” he added, “we can continue to drive these numbers down.”
Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.
The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. See “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing [email protected].
Why would “Republicans” care to reply to these crime rates, when the entirety of the city itself is in Democratic hands and has been for decades now? Further, what would Republicans have to do with the resultant crime rates or statistics, seeing as how you could shoot a shotgun loaded with birdshot at any person on the street in the city and never hit anyone “Republican?” Fact is, most of the Republican base and leadership is in the suburbs. Not Rochester. And if they’re in no leadership positions within the city itself, what difference would their comments make? None, is the answer to your question.
Neither still do I understand the comments that seem to imply that Republicans would simply ignore said stats, or outright call them “fake news?” If anything, they should rightly point out the illogical fallacy in place within city government, such that it gives tacit approval to individuals continuing to commit crimes, while paying absolutely nothing in terms of punishment or penance. Were it me, I’d be running on the idiocy and irrational policy directives expressed by those in our city government/leaders, who seem to cheer-lead for the criminals over their victims. Any sane or rational person would, I have to assume, vote for me on those dictates alone.
I also have to openly wonder why you would consider the state laws on bail reform to be acceptable or warranted, when much of the crimes committed by individuals in our city are committed by those who got a slap on the wrist and were let go on their or their parent(s) recognizance? To whose benefit? The people raped, robbed or killed outright?
I have a different thought, William: Why don’t you and yours set up a meeting with our city leaders and ask them outright WHY it is they keep kicking the can down the road with regard to the criminality in our community – and to the benefit of no one who has to live under these regressive policies and rules. Start there. And stop worrying about what the Republicans feel about what keeps happening in our community. The vast majority of them don’t even live in the city – and could give two shits about the ill governance in the city – and who funds it – subscribes to it – and has to pay for it – as long as they don’t.
Thank you for that long-winded excuse for the failure of the Republican Party to do anything about the crime issue which impacts ALL areas of the county, not just the city where the GOP has for MANY years been too gutless to run candidates for mayor or city council or school board. Get in the game or stop kibitzing! But then again, the reluctance and hand-washing of your Pontius Pilate Party is perhaps understandable given its paucity of concrete proposals and plethora of hot air and cliches. Speaking of which, if I had a Bingo card utlizing 24 of those cliches so beloved by the self-proclaimed (and felon-led) Party of Law and Order I suspect the cliches in your screed would have given me a BINGO! But just for laughs, tell us what those “regressive policies and rules” are which you claim you’re forced to live under. Use both sides of the paper if necessarey. In the meantime, perhaps you’d like to review studies produced by the Brennan Center for Justice, or the ACLU of NY, or the UofAlbany’s School of Criminal Justice all of which demonstrate that there is zero linkage between bail reform and an increase in crime in the streets. After all, you’ve already made clear that you’d never call facst you disagree with “fake news”.
Evidently, I seem to have struck a nerve, Mr. Robinson. Evidently as well, your own screed couldn’t manage to contain your disdain or insults for anyone who might oppose that which you are lead by the nose by.
I’m also unsure of where you call home, but if it’s in the city of Rochester, the chances of a Republican winning dog catcher is between zero and none. Why would anyone of any true conservative values run for an office in the city when there is a slim to none chance of ever winning that office or seat? Democrats in city districts outnumber Republicans by 3-1. In some city districts it’s even higher. As such, it remains a pipe dream – and is massively expensive as well. Especially so when one considers the fact that those campaign contributions would be far better utilized in the far western suburbs (Parma, Ogden, Clarkson, and Hamlin) and with tangible results.
That said, I would have to agree with you that, yes, it does seem a bit gutless for their candidates to completely eschew representation in most city districts. Just like it does the average Democratic candidate running for office in Rush. Neither will see their electoral dreams come true, I’m afraid.
Perhaps, at some point, some quasi-Republican/Socialist will come to bear and we will all eat our words. The likelihood of that happening, however, is akin to Rochester high school graduates scoring above 800 on their SAT’s. All 15 of them.
Further, where you and I are likely never to agree on is your “felony” remark about the President. This is a well rehearsed Democratic talking point and the low information voter loves expressions like this, since they aren’t required to examine further the facts laid out in this case.
Then again, even if they were, I highly doubt that all but a few of your cohorts would be able to see or further examine the judicial hijinks and outright political corruption that first brought this case to bear. A particular case whereby the outcome was so clearly delineated and concluded prior to its commencement. A rather spectacular development, I must say, since it was one of the fundamental reasons as to why the electorate took his side in the case, saw it for the political witch hunt it most certainly was, and elected him anyway.
Lastly, and on the issue of bail reform. I will try and get back to you when I have more time. Something I don’t have right at this moment…
I see. The 49.8% minority of the popular vote which Trump received in 2024 was because, 1) he was the victim of a “weaponized legal sysytem”. 2) the 2020 election was stolen. 3) “In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there.” 4) Biden was risking WWIII by arming Ukraine. 5) Obama wasn’t a citizen. 6) the Clintons had Epstein killed. 7) the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol wasn’t an attack. 8) add your other favorite conspiracy nut claims here.
Got. it. Of course the only thing you hit was rock bottom. But have a nice rant….I mean, day.
The mid year report that crime is down is misleading. Most of the nuisance and property damage crimes are not being reported and/or cannot be processed by the police because they are shorthanded since the disastrous bail reform and raise the age legislation. This is hurting the image of the City.
“The mayor’s office does say that youth engagement is a key part of its approach to public safety.”
You know what else provides “youth engagement” and “public safety?” PROPER PARENTING and GUIDANCE.
Start there. For with that provision in place and operating in its most natural setting and course of action, the need for all of these *programs* and outlays of taxpayer funded monies is not only unnecessary, it’s also unneeded.
And while we may have a “youth” problem here in the city of Rochester as the “devil behind why” our crime rates are so high – we have a far, far larger problem within the root of why crime has become so prevalent and widespread in the city itself: Fatherless homes. Single mothers. Gang culture. Cultural rot and a progressively nurtured educational system that tells young Blacks that they are oppressed and correct for not wanting to “act White” in their studies and learning abilities.
Combine all that with an educational system that seems to be paralyzed or crippled in eeking out a much more satisfying end game than the one we’ve been treated to for the last 30+ years. Entire generations of Rochester kids have come out of our school system being unable to read, write, do math or even solve rudimentary lesson material. The effects of which have seen our city crumble before our eyes, and with a poverty rate higher than most other cities our size across the United States. In what way is this an “accomplishment?”
How then can we expect that those that do graduate (with their 55% A scores) to go on to much more productive and fulfilling lives, when they are almost universally unprepared and unable to accomplish even the most basic tasks in our workforce and society? And we wonder why our police force is run ragged and understaffed? Who in their right mind would want to willingly take on such a thankless role?
You want better results on the street? Start charging the same parent(s) of these miscreants with both dereliction and child abuse. And then, sentence accordingly. If nothing else, it will at least provide a wake up call to those who, up till now, have paid nothing for their monumental parenting abdication, irresponsibility and outright inability to remain or become responsible adults over the children they keep producing. Hey, it’s worth a try.
Sure would be great with that extra special colour coded chart if we could have put names of neighbourhoods with the cool colours therein. Not everyone on this site is uber-familiar with the designated ‘hoods one is trying to highlight. Certainly would have given us a direct clue as to precisely what neighbourhoods are relatively safe and which are not. Just a thought…
Mike
The problem with these numbers is that Republicans will simply, a) ignore them, or b) chant their mantra of “fake news!”. The Beacon should (if you haven’t already) ask local Republican leaders for their comments. And since the doubters will claim that even if the numbers are falling, they would be even lower if it weren’t for evil Bail Reform allowing “criminals” back on the street, if possible it would be highly informative if the above numbers could be recalculated by subtracting any crimes committed by individuals who were back on the street having been released under said Bail Reform.
Well-written and useful article — thank you.