CITY NW SEES 5TH SHOOTING IN 5 DAYS

Man Wounded In Knee; Police Step Up Patrols Near Dewey Avenue

The Rochester Police Department is stepping up patrols and dedicating extra
investigators to the northwest quadrant in the wake of a recent spate of
shootings in that part of the city.

A Rochester man was shot in the knee on Saratoga Avenue early Monday,
marking the fifth shooting in five days in the neighborhoods along Dewey
Avenue.

Investigator Joseph Dominick said the shootings didn't appear related. But
the department has already assigned more officers to the area, including
those who are assigned to Operation Law and Order, which uses the
department's version of a SWAT team and narcotics investigators to disrupt
drug activity.

"Obviously when you have an increase in violence in a certain area, we take
it seriously," Dominick said. "That part of the city's not really known for
that type of crime, so we want to prevent (more incidents of that nature)
from happening in the future."

Charles Garcia, 20, of Myrtle Street was shot in the knee as he walked in
front of 221 Saratoga Ave., shortly before 2:30 a.m. Garcia told police he
heard the shot and then fell to the ground, said Dominick. Garcia was taken
to Strong Memorial Hospital. He was treated and released.

Garcia's shooting happened within three miles of four other shootings
Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Two men were killed and two boys, ages 14 and
2, were injured in those incidents.

Audrey Smith, a consultant to the advocacy group Families and Friends of
Murdered Children and Victims of Violence, said she's particularly outraged
by the shootings of the young boys and wondered why community leaders
aren't calling for some sort of action to stop the violence.

"This needs to be addressed in some form or fashion," Smith said. "Do we
have to lose a whole generation of young people before we do anything?"

City Councilman Robert Stevenson, D-Northwest, said he's already begun
meeting neighborhood activists and crime-prevention officers to increase
police-citizen patrols in the area. The police are employing other
strategies that Stevenson wouldn't reveal. "We're going to take back the
streets," he said. "This obviously has to stop."