Rochester is reporting its lowest crime statistics in nearly 40 years.
Mayor Lovely Warren and Police Chief Mark Simmons released the stats in a news conference this afternoon. They say crime was down by 27 percent overall last year, hitting a 39-year-low.
Chief Simmons says this is the benefit of community policing, and police are solving more crimes with the help of more tips from the public.
There were 28 homicides in Rochester last year, the same as in 2017. That's the first time in 39 years the city has had fewer than 30 homicides for two years in a row...but Mayor Lovely Warren says it will never be good enough until that number is “zero.”
The number of "Part One" -- the most serious crimes -- was below 9,000 for the first time since 1985.