![\"hogues\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/hogues.jpg?resize=130%2C150\")
Erie County Legislature Chairperson Betty Jean Grant (D-Buffalo) and County Legislator Timothy R. Hogues (D-Buffalo) are inviting all stakeholders and county residents to the \u201cSummit on Violent Crime and Homicide in Buffalo, New York,\u201d from 5:30-7:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 17, at the Frank E. Merriweather Library, 1324 Jefferson Ave., Buffalo.<\/p>\n
Chairperson Grant and Legislator Hogues notes that most of the 15 homicides reported in Buffalo in 2013 have \u201ctranspired in the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0and 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0County Legislative districts. By any measure, this is community crisis of epic proportion.\u201d<\/p>\n The summit will bring together elected and appointed officials from three levels and three branches of government (executive, legislative and judicial), as well as community leaders, anti-violence groups and the law enforcement community.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to stop, listen to and learn about the community\u2019s desire to be engaged on such a vital issue that affects all of us. The community can play a decisive role in offering suggestions and solutions supported by sound research,\u201d Chairperson Grant said. \u201cWe can learn from the best practices and successful initiatives in cities that have made progress in restoring public safety, and the community will be informed of government collaborations under way and being developed to address this blight in Buffalo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt won\u2019t be east, but this conversation is necessary. There are Buffalo neighborhoods whose health, safety and socioeconomic statistics rival those of war-torn Third World countries,\u201d Legislator Hogues, chair of the Public Safety Committee, said. \u201cThe first step is neighborhood safety; we all agree that the carnage has to stop, and it falls on law enforcement and the criminal justice system to be the first responders, prosecutors and dispensers of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information, people can call the Erie County Legislature at 858-7500.<\/p>\n