City of Rochester to host violence prevention summit

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC)— Do you want to share your thoughts on how to address the violence in Rochester? The city is giving you the chance to join the conversation Thursday afternoon.

The city’s Office of Neighborhood Safety will hold its Violence Prevention Summit at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. The city says the open-to-the-public forum will allow you to share your thoughts on how to contribute to the city’s violence reduction strategy.

Earlier this week, the Federal Violence Prevention and Elimination Response (VIPER) Task Force held an open community conversation. Its focus is to curb the violence within 60 days.

Some said it’s important community members speak up when they know things about a crime — but are concerned about "snitching". Instead, they say change needs to start at home and teaching kids to respect law enforcement.

Thursday’s summit also comes a day after Rochester Police shared an update on its role in the federal partnership. In the two weeks before the effort, there were 21 shootings and five homicides. In the last two weeks, there have been 11 shootings and one homicide.

The event will feature a panel discussion moderated by News10NBC’s own Lynette Adams. Panelists include:

• Antoine Towers, Chairperson, Oakland Violence Prevention Coalition
• Willie Lightfoot Sr., Vice President Rochester City Council, co-founder of the Roc Against Gun Violence Coalition
• Fred Fogg, Regional Director, Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc.
• Aqeela Sherrills, Newark, NJ Office of Violence Prevention

The keynote address will be lead by DeVone Boggan, who is the CEO of Advance Peace, it’s an organization local police reform activists have referenced as a model they’d like to see implemented in Rochester.

The summit runs from 1 to 5 p.m. If you’d like to attend, you can register by clicking this link.