A stepped-up RPD presence is meant to discourage fighting downtown. A series of fistfights has broken out recently in the area around the Liberty Pole. PHOTO BY MATT DETURCK
A series of fistfights in the vicinity of the Liberty Pole downtown has resulted in approximately 10 arrests and drawn a substantial police response. Some of those arrested are juveniles, a police spokesman says, and some are adults over age 16.
"We believe that they're fights that stem from the schools or certain neighborhoods, and they decide to meet downtown to settle the score," says LaRon Singletary, of the Rochester Police Department.
Witnesses say anywhere from dozens to 100 people have been involved in the altercations, although Singletary says it's tough to set a number because many run to the fight to watch.
The fights started on Thursday, January 21, and occurred almost daily through Wednesday, January 27, a police spokesman says. No incidents were reported on Thursday, January 28.
Passersby have undoubtedly noticed the stepped-up police presence around Main and Franklin Streets. Late Wednesday afternoon, a dozen or more squad cars lined Franklin, and there were cops on foot and horseback.
"That's part of our deployment strategy, to put additional resources downtown to try to prevent the fights," Singletary says. "We had school resource officers come downtown to try to identify some of the kids."
Police Chief David Moore wants to meet with city school district officials and representatives of RGRTA, Singletary says, to devise a strategy to prevent future fights. Many students are bused from school to downtown, where they catch another bus home. The concentration of students may be contributing to the problem, Singletary says.
Comments for "DOWNTOWN: RPD battles recurring fistfights near Main Street " (4)
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Localobserver said on Feb. 03, 2010 at 3:59pm
"Many students are bused from school to downtown, where they catch another bus home. The concentration of students may be contributing to the problem, Singletary says."
May be contributing??????
This has been a major cause of the the death of Main Street and Midtown Plaza. The transfer of students scared away any potential shoppers years ago. And before someone trys to turn this into some city or racial issue I believe that you'd have the same situation if you had all of the students in the Greece school district change buses at The Mall At Greece Ridge Center. Isn't that why the put in a curvew at the mall?
Patrick O'Brien said on Feb. 03, 2010 at 4:58pm
This article astounds me. "We had school resource officers come downtown to try to identify some of the kids"..WHAT? Grab the lawbreakers by the scruff of the neck and say "what's your name?"...."Chief Moore wants to meet with city school district officials ..to devise a strategy to prevent future fights." WHAT? That's what billy clubs are for. I'm sure that I'm sounding like a grumpy old man but when is enough enough? Hundreds of kids RIOTING in front of in the middle of street, right in front of a police substation and no one knows what to do about it??? Time to write another in depth atricle about why nobody goes downtown.
Carrie Smith said on Feb. 05, 2010 at 8:36am
If Duffy gets his way then this will be his problem. He will not only have to deal with the RCSD but youth violence in neighborhoods. tak about biting off more that you can chew. It will be interesting to see how his high priced educational consultant factors in "at-risk" students and their lack of academic achievement. Good luck Duffy i am moving to another state where the people run politics not were politics run the people.
Christina said on Feb. 06, 2010 at 9:30pm
Wow! Maybe more officers around will stop fights, or will they? How many officers will it take to ensure that fights don't occur? Schools really need to emphasize student conduct inside of school and outside of school. Roudy kids pouring into the buses and streets is just terrrible and can make anyone...well just feel disgusted. And then again, kids don't ever learn, but it's still worth a shot. A 30 minute lecture (maybe with a video or something "cool and relatable" ) should be implemented somehow during each week. Whether kids would want to rebel even more, well I don't know.
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