Adam Bello delivers speech on state of public health

Monroe County Executive Adam Bello delivered the State of Public Safety address Monday, the second of four speeches he will deliver throughout the month of June.

Bello touted investments in the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, including new staff, positions and increased cross-jurisdictional collaboration with $7.3 million in funding announced last year to modernize the office .

The county executive says the funding will be used to:

• A new class for the sheriff's office starting Monday with 33 recruits
• Enhanced coverage in the community and at Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport
• An additional juvenile crime investigator and a new countywide crime coordinator
• Support for the Regional Investigative Operations Center which will use technology to improve and coordinate criminal investigations across multiple jurisdictions

He also announced that the Juvenile Enhanced Diversion Stabilization (JEDS) program would expand by doubling the length of its stabilization period, from two weeks to four weeks. This comes, in part, thanks to a $1 million investment from Gov. Kathy Hochul to bolster efforts to reduce juvenile crime.

The county will also invest in new 3D ballistics technology that officials say can help solve more crimes and potentially uncover leads for cold cases and investigations in which shell casings were missing from crime scenes.

Bello also announced that the county's share of funds collected from violations of the BusPatrol camera system, which captures video of motorists passing school buses when red lights are flashing and stop arms are down, will be reinvested in road safety initiatives and programs.

The County Executive will provide the status of workforce and economic development on Monday, June 17.

A full preview of Monday's speech can be found here: