The Democratic candidate for Monroe County Executive is proposing a permanent anti-violence task force in response to the recent shootings in the city and other violent crimes.
That’s part of Sandra Frankel’s 10-point anti-violence agenda which also includes mandatory gun locks with gun purchases in Monroe County.
"Because half of the children who commit gun crimes at school found the guns at home,” Frankel said. “Seventy percent of murders nationally are committed with guns. So, if we can take illegal and unwanted guns off the street, and we can limit children's access to weapons, the community will be safer."
She also wants the State Attorney General to expand the current gun amnesty program.
"Right now, it happens, I believe once a year in the city and in the town of Brighton. But there are other places that may find it more convenient to implement," she said.
Frankel said if elected, she will create an outreach team within the county office of mental health to work with victims of violence on a short and long-term basis. She said even though the most recent high profile shootings occurred in the city of Rochester, violence happens in other communities, and affects the county as a whole.
"The fact of the matter is, we are one community. We are bound together as a county, and when the center mourns, we all mourn with them."
Frankel is facing Republican Cheryl Dinolfo and Green Party candidate Rajesh Barnabas in the November election.