Monroe County allots $7.3M to add deputies, regional investigations center

Monroe County is making a $7.3 investment in the Sheriff’s Office to increase road patrols and fund a new regional operations center.

The addition of 30 road patrol deputies and three lieutenants for all three of he department’s coverage zones will provide a greater police presence and ability to respond to criminal activity.

Officials will use the new Regional Investigative Operations Center (RIOC) to better monitor and respond to real-time crime, communicating and coordinating with multiple agencies.

“This unprecedented investment is needed to respond to the surge in shootings, car thefts, smash-and-grab crime and threats to our schools — crimes driven by a lack of accountability,” County Executive Adam Bello said in a news release. “Protecting the public is job one. Never before has a county administration made an investment this substantial and this transformative in public safety and our Sheriff’s Office.”

New staffing will provide increased road patrols during the busiest times. There currently is an average of one deputy per 3,600 residents, which is less than half the national average, county officials said. That means some deputies by themselves cover 30 square miles.

“Over the past couple of decades, the population in our service area has grown by 8 percent, yet our staffing has not grown,” Sheriff Todd Baxter said. “We must hire more men and women to patrol, answer calls for service and engage with our community. We must also staff our zones at a rate that prioritizes deputy wellness.”

The RIOC will take actionable criminal information and make it operational in real time, Baxter said.

The funding also will provide enhanced coverage at the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport, an additional juvenile investigator and a county-wide crime coordinator.

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