City Newspaper Archives - 10/2007
POLICE: Duffy: Crackdown will not end
Published by Christine Carrie Fien on Oct 11, 2007
Rochester will spend what it has to spend, do whatever it has to do within the confines of the law and the Constitution, to end the violence on the city's streets, Mayor Robert Duffy says.
"I think we've all had enough," he says. "I've had enough."
Duffy's pledge came during a press conference Thursday afternoon announcing the arrests of two city teens in the Oct. 4 shooting death of community activist James Slater. Henry Cox, 19, and Darnell Norton, 18, have been charged with second-degree murder. Cox is related-by-marriage to Mayoral Assistant Darryl Porter. Porter is "devasted" by the connection, Duffy says.
Slater's death and the earlier murder of 36-year-old Latasha Shaw have prompted a law-enforcement crackdown, which is costing the city more than $50,000 per day. Despite the cost, Duffy said the crackdown will not end.
"This will go on every single day. We're putting all caution to the wind," he said. "This is not just tough talk or rhetoric. The future of this city depends on it."
Cox and Norton are high-school dropouts. Duffy said he's not pointing fingers at the school district, "but this is the demographic we see" dealing drugs, taking part in gang activity and committing homicides.
