ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Mayor Evans announced that gun violence has continued to drop amid the city's anti-violence and crime prevention methods. According to Evans, the gun violence metrics they track are below the five-year average by over 30% — he said shootings are down 38%, the number of people injured by gunfire is down 34%, and homicides as a result of gun violence are down 32%. Another sharp decline was seen in the number of juvenile victims of gunfire, which has fallen by more than half since the peak of the pandemic. Furthermore, over 500 guns were returned in a recent buyback, 1,200 total firearms were recovered this year, and there was a 92% conviction rate. Evans clarified that he is not satisfied with these numbers, but he is gratified that the numbers are going down. He said this is the result of partnerships between the City of Rochester and law enforcement agencies at the local, statewide, and federal levels. "Violent crime and gun violence remain our number one challenge and remain my number one priority," Evans said. "I want this community to not have any acceptable level of gun violence. No level of gun violence is acceptable, but we do need to talk about when we are moving in the right trajectory." Furthermore, it was announced that the city has renewed the Gun Violence State of Emergency, with Evans saying they will not stop renewing it. Chief David Smith added that the reduction in gun violence allowed the Rochester Police Department to address other issues. Aside from gun violence, he announced that larcenies are on track to fall to their lowest number in the last few years. New York State Police also continue to confiscate and dismantle ATVs and dirt bikes on the street. Speed bumps were also installed near Parcel 5 to address street racing. On the subject of car thefts, Evans says those remain a challenge, but they are still working on driving those numbers down through the Juvenile Enhanced Diversion Stabilization Program (JEDS Program). The last public safety update came in September when the mayor announced that gun violence in the city had gone down. Despite the announcement, he mentioned that the city's focus is making sure residents feel safe. Multiple changes such as park closures and the gun violence state of emergency were made over the summer to address illegal gatherings and gun violence. This culminated in putting an age restriction in the East and Alexander area for one weekend. In Thursday's news conference, Mayor Evans said those weekend age restrictions improved the entertainment district and made people's safety secure in the area.