Mayor Malik Evans said he is considering instituting a curfew after a series of violent incidents early Sunday in downtown Rochester.
The discussion is in its early stages, as the mayor said he directed the city’s legal department to explore “meaningful policies ... to ensure that we keep our city safe.”
“There are a lot of different ways in which you can do curfews,” Evans said. “You can do them at certain times, you can do them around certain events, you can do them during the summer.”
The weekend violence prompted the conversation. In all, seven people were shot and one stabbed. Half the victims were minors, and the youngest was 12. Police have said most were bystanders as more than 50 shots were fired during the incidents.
No one has been charged in direct connection with the shootings, which took place on East Broad Street and a parking lot on East Avenue. Police made three arrests in the area for people allegedly caught with illegal guns. That included two men in their late 20s and a 17-year-old who was found with a “ghost gun” with an extended magazine.
Evans, in a news conference Monday morning, passed blame on parents for allowing their kids to be out late into the night.
“I am big on making sure that we have youth development programs for our young people, but we have not yet perfected babysitting services for parents, so it's a problem,” Evans said. “This has been a problem that has been bubbling, not only in Rochester, but across the country.”
The New York Civil Liberties Union and other curfew critics point out that youth are statistically more likely to be involved in crime during daytime hours. Evans said he was not yet prepared to go into specifics on a possible curfew, adding: "It's just something that needs to be talked about.”
“I would sincerely hope and pray that everyone within the city of Rochester and in our country can think that it's not a good idea for a 12-year-old or an 11-year-old or even a 15-year-old to be out at 12:30 at night alone without adult supervision,” Evans said.
It was not immediately clear if that was the case early Sunday, but Evans said that is part of the ongoing investigation.
Evans would not be the first mayor to try to institute a youth curfew. In 2009, the state Court of Appeals upheld a decision striking down a curfew instituted under then-Mayor Robert Duffy. In a 5-2 decision, the court ruled that the policy was unconstitutional, violating both the minors’ First Amendment rights and their parents’ right to due process.
Mayor Lovely Warren tried again in 2020 with a curfew policy aimed at large gatherings. That was at the height of social justice protests after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In state law, one of the only carve outs that could legally allow a curfew to be put into place is under a Gun Violence State of Emergency, which Evans has maintained in Rochester over the entirety of his time as mayor. Even still, it’s unclear if a curfew placed under that state of emergency could legally only apply to minors.
All of the shooting victims, and the stabbing victim, are expected to survive. The Rochester Police Department is still seeking information on the shooting.
“Someone knows who was involved; someone saw something, and your information could make the difference in bringing those responsible to justice,” said Monroe County District Attorney Brian Green. “We cannot solve crimes like this alone, and we certainly cannot prosecute cases like this as effectively without eyewitnesses.”
