Monroe County law enforcement officials have some new tools to help combat gun violence.
Several local law enforcement agencies are sharing a $1.6 million dollar grant. It's funded by a new state program called "GIVE", which stands for Gun Involved Violence Elimination Initiative.
Mike Green, executive deputy commissioner of the State Division of Criminal Justice Services, says police agencies will use the funds to carry out evidence-based strategies to lower gun-related crimes.
"Part of the focus is identifying hot offenders; identifying hot spots, looking ways you can deal with not only the shootings that have happened, but also try to prevent shootings in the future."
Green says Monroe County received the second largest grant among 17 counties. That was based partly on the level of gun-related crimes and partly on the quality of the grant application.
The funds will be shared by the Rochester Police Department, Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Monroe County District Attorney and the Monroe County Probation Department.
