ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — In an effort to reduce gun violence, the Rochester Police Department has introduced a section of officers aimed at a collaborative approach.

It’s called the violence prevention section, and brings officers from a variety of units together, with the hopes of leading to more arrests and fewer crimes in areas of concern.

Those officers are brought in from the tactical and narcotics units among others. As part of this, the department has also created what’s called a strategic initiative unit.

“What we’re doing now is putting, in a way, an oversight of that and changing the way the oversight is going. Now, by having a captain and a lieutenant assigned to it, and then four officers permanently assigned to this violence prevention aspect of things, a lot of times these violent offenders aren’t just sticking to one section of the city. So, it’s providing a lot more coordination in these details,” said Lt. Greg Bello with RPD.

Leaders say the continued work in this way will boost the focus of targeting suspects known to the department and reaching offenders in violent hotspots.

“Instead of running a detail once in a while to try and do custom notifications with individuals that might be at risk, or putting a detail together to try and do a case of place investigation on a location, now we have an actual unit that does it full time. We’ve been doing this all along. This is just a more focused attempt to complete the same exact project,” said Capt. Mark Mura with RPD.

Meanwhile, the Rochester Police Department remains in need of officers. Although the next police exam won’t be held until next year, recruitment efforts continue.

Those interested in pursuing a career with the department are asked to visit the city’s website.