CREATING A SAFER BUFFALO

Everyone should be able to feel safe while walking around their neighborhood, no matter where they live in the city. That’s the foundation of Sean Ryan’s vision for public safety in Buffalo. As Mayor, Sean will implement a comprehensive, citywide strategy that reduces crime, builds stronger community trust, and addresses the root causes of violence. His approach focuses on clear goals, smart policing, youth engagement, and state-of-the-art technology—ensuring Buffalo becomes a safer, more just city for all. From getting illegal guns off our streets to investing in community outreach and pedestrian safety, Sean’s public safety plan is focused, data-driven, and rooted in real results.

Set Clear Goals: As Mayor, Sean Ryan will work with law enforcement to set clear goals for reducing Buffalo’s homicide rate and increasing the homicide clearance rate. He will focus on reducing Part 1 crimes, which include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. In addition, he will focus on providing greater and more regular reporting on homicide clearance rates. He will work aggressively to address gang activity, improve safety along commercial corridors, and get illegal guns off our streets.

Support Safe Communities to Prevent Crime: As Mayor, Sean Ryan will focus on community violence intervention and outreach, and work to offer more support services, education, and job opportunities for young people. This includes establishing relationships with at-risk youth and adults through direct and sustained outreach. This is a proven strategy for reducing criminal activity and gun violence, and similar initiatives have led to significant decreases in shootings. As part of this effort, Sean will continue his commitment to investing in Buffalo’s parks and recreational opportunities, and work to create a robust youth summer work program to ensure youth have more access to safe spaces and activities.

Data Driven Community Policing: Crime prevention includes having police present, visible, and engaged, especially in areas known to be high-crime hotspots. Community policing must be done right and must be focused on negating criminal activity and improving overall safety. Our City should focus on strategic programs concentrating on high crime areas, based on a focused, data driven analysis combining patrols with park-and-walks in directed areas. Done consistently and deliberately, violence reduction programs are proven through research to have strong impacts on reducing criminal activity in the highest-crime areas. As part of this effort, Sean will work with New York State to continue the expansion of the Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative. This program has proven to be very effective. Thanks to support and funding from this program, the dedicated work of the Buffalo Police Department, and our law enforcement partners, the City of Buffalo reduced shootings by approximately 57% between 2021 and 2024.

Bolster Police Intelligence Sharing: As Mayor, Sean Ryan will work with New York State to expand intelligence sharing, and he will also work to expand the Buffalo Police Intelligence Unit which works with federal law enforcement partners to address gang and gun violence. Having solid working relationships with our federal partners is a proven way to reduce gang and gun violence.

Invest in Technology: Technology makes police manpower more efficient without driving up overtime costs, and there are existing state grants available to draw from. Last year, the Buffalo Police Department received a nearly $7 million technology grant from NYS to significantly upgrade technology. Sean will prioritize investing in technology which will assist law enforcement in doing their work, such as a modern real time crime center and the use of advanced drone technology, expanding their use.

Invest in Training and Wellness: Sean will also work with the PBA to provide more training resources and wellness initiatives for officers. A more efficient and robust training schedule alongside new wellness programs will support the men and women of the Buffalo Police Department both physically and mentally, and ensure they receive training on best practices.

Improve Transparency: As Mayor, Sean will ensure that the public is made aware of every shooting and homicide that occurs in the City of Buffalo. Under Acting Mayor Scanlon, formal press releases are not being sent about every incident, and changes made to improve transparency by the former police commissioner, such as regularly holding formal press conferences and making those press conferences available on social media, have been rolled back.

Support State Efforts: Partnering with New York State will be key to addressing the public safety concerns that Buffalo faces. As Mayor, Sean will work with the state to secure more funding for community-led violence prevention initiatives and Child Advocacy Centers, and greater participation in the Jails to Jobs program, which has reduced recidivism rates. He also supported efforts in the recent state budget to address the unintended consequences of discovery reform, which will ensure fewer cases are dismissed due to administrative requirements.

Safer Streets and Pedestrian Safety: Sean Ryan knows that we are facing a crisis of pedestrian fatalities and injuries. In Western New York, 111 pedestrians and cyclists have been hit and killed by a vehicle since 2020. The number of pedestrian fatalities and injuries in Western New York has climbed steadily since 2020. As Mayor, Sean will work to implement a Vision Zero plan to better design our streets and encourage safer driving. This strategy has proven to be a success in cities across the country.