CitiStat Buffalo in the News

Quality-of-life policing on the rise

Sep-06-2007
Police officers wrote more summonses this summer for noise complaints, open containers, high grass and other quality- of-life offenses than at any point in at least seven years.

Pesky animal invaders driving some Buffalo neighborhoods wild

Jul-23-2007
Skunks stage nightly parades in David Griggs’ Minnesota Avenue neighborhood. Barbara Schneider, who lives in the Valley neighborhood, captured a pesky critter she identified as a raccoon and called the city to remove it.

Housing violation complaints soar; city can’t keep up

Jul-16-2007
Residents flooded City Hall with 4,153 complaints about housing code violations in the first five months of the year, and nearly one-third of the problems remain unresolved.

Commissioner wants experts to check empty buildings

Jun-30-2007
The city will take new steps to prevent firefighters and others from being hurt in thousands of vacant buildings, officials announced Friday.

Violence down amid quality-of-life worry

Jun-28-2007
Violent crime in Buffalo is down by 24 percent for the first five months of this year, but police are having a tough time dealing with routine quality-of-life complaints.

Some areas wait too long for arrival of ambulances

Jun-02-2007
Many people who called for ambulances in certain Buffalo neighborhoods between January and March waited longer than they should have, the city's accountability panel was told Friday.

Gipson says noise law violators are cited

May-31-2007
Buffalo's top law enforcer disputed claims Wednesday that police aren't doing enough to crack down on excessive noise and other neighborhood disturbances.

City Hall wants to cut outside legal fees

May-21-2007
City Hall is looking for ways to slash the amount of money it spends on outside lawyers.

City looks for reasons behind high officer injury rate

May-05-2007
One in seven Buffalo police officers was off-duty because of work-related injuries last month, and police brass warn the problem is getting worse.

Better response to gripes urged, despite city inspectors' workloads

Apr-23-2007
When people complain to City Hall about overgrown grass, peeling paint or other non-emergency code violations in their neighborhoods, it sometimes takes overstretched inspectors 30 days to address problems.

Vacant buildings feeding spread of arson

Mar-15-2007
Empty buildings are compounding Buffalo’s arson problems, especially in the Fillmore District, which logged more than five times as many fires in vacant structures last year than most other neighborhoods.

Mayor Defends City Efforts to Get Residents, Merchants to Clear Walks

Feb-17-2007
Mayor Byron W. Brown disputed criticism Friday that the city is going too easy on people who don't shovel their sidewalks...

24 Hours Added to Pothole Vow

Feb-08-2007
When Mayor Byron W. Brown recently announced a new assault on potholes, he talked about giving motorists a guarantee that holes would be filled within 24 hours...

Brown Renews Push For Traffic Surveillance Cameras

Feb-04-2007
Motorists who run red lights at accident-prone intersections in Buffalo might soon be caught on candid camera. And the snapshots could end up saddling reckless drivers with traffic fines...

Brown Raises Summer Youth Jobs Goal to 2,500

Jan-27-2007
When Byron W. Brown became mayor last year, one of his early priorities was to create 1,000 new summer jobs for young people...

Collect On Old Debts

Jan-16-2007
Buffalo's CitiStat system shows encouraging signs of improved financial tracking. After years of trying to find money between the sofa cushions, City Hall is using computers to target money it's owed.

Staff Shortage Hurts Housing Inspections

Jan-15-2007
A staff crunch is hindering efforts to crack down on people who ignore housing codes, according to Buffalo's economic development chief. Richard M. Tobe warned that the problem will only get worse now that the state is forcing city inspectors to perform new tasks.

Ways Sought to Collect Unpaid Fees

Jan-06-2007
Deadbeats owe the city millions of dollars in unpaid taxes and fees, and Mayor Byron W. Brown is launching an offensive to find ways to collect some of the money...

Mayor Brown Announces CitiStat Buffalo Updates

Dec-15-2006
Mayor Byron W. Brown today announced two new updates to the weekly CitiStat Buffalo meetings...

Mayor Lauds Water Dept. Improvements

Nov-21-2006
City water users who complained about shoddy customer service this summer have seen dramatic improvements, Mayor Byron W. Brown said Monday. Long waits on the system's phone lines have been slashed from an average of 23 minutes in August ...

Vandal Gets 90 Days For Spray-Paint Graffiti

Nov-21-2006
A graffiti vandal suspected of defacing nearly 100 buildings in Buffalo was sentenced Monday to 90 days in jail. Eric P. Osborne, 23, also was ordered by State Supreme Court Justice Penny M. Wolfgang to serve five years of probation, pay $360 in ...

Tables Turned On CitiStat Member

Oct-07-2006
Buffalo's strategic planning chief has been building a small cult following on public access cable television for being a tough-as-nails inquisitor on the city's new accountability panel.

Top Official In Graffiti War At Risk Of Being Fired

Sep-11-2006
The man who oversees Buffalo's war on graffiti could be fired if efforts don't improve, members of Mayor Byron W. Brown's accountability panel have warned. Brown said he has become so frustrated that he took matters into his own hands ...

Water Officials Scolded Over Poor Service

Sep-09-2006
Mayor Byron W. Brown and his oversight team scolded water officials Friday for providing shoddy customer service and gave them two weeks to improve. The edict came after the company that runs the city's water system issued some sobering ...

Firefighters Battling 'Booby Traps,' Too; Commissioner Notes Disturbing Trend

Aug-31-2006
As Buffalo's arson problem spreads into neighborhoods that are not typically targeted by firebugs, officials are seeing another alarming trend.Firefighters have encountered a growing number of "booby traps" inside burning buildings this ...

Police Chief Warns Against Downsizing

Aug-05-2006
Buffalo's police commissioner says it would be a mistake to move forward with plans to shrink the size of the police force to 675 officers. H. McCarthy Gipson said Friday he will push for independent experts to ...

New System Targets Abuse Of Sick Leave

Jul-29-2006
Sanitation workers suspected of abusing sick leave are being threatened with disciplinary action as the city's new accountability system continues to red-flag trouble spots.The CitiStat panel raised questions Friday about increased ...

Contracts Blamed In FireFighter Overtime;City Unable To Control How Many Take Days Off

Jul-22-2006
Union contracts hinder City Hall's ability to control how many firefighters take time off and thus are driving up overtime costs, the city's new accountability panel said Friday. A clause that allows firefighters to take time off with ...

Officials Scolded For Filing Late Reports

Jul-16-2006
City Hall's accountability panel scolded some department heads Friday for delays in supplying data that shed light on how well the city is delivering services. Members of Byron W. Brown's CitiStat panel were miffed that reports ...

CitiStat Takes Aim At Graffiti, Poor Recycling

Jul-01-2006
Buffalo's deplorable recycling rate and graffiti woes were examined Friday by troubleshooters using a new high-tech accountability system to improve city services.The CitiStat team also raised concerns about injuries ...

Brown Gets CitiStat Rolling

Jun-25-2006
There is no telling yet how useful a computer monitoring program will prove to be in Buffalo, but two things are certain: Its implementation means Mayor Byron W. Brown kept his promise, and it has the potential to significantly improve ...

CitiStat Begins Tracking Of Operations

Jun-17-2006
CitiStat, Buffalo's long-awaited computerized accountability system, was launched Friday and is already spotting problems with some operations. Mayor Byron W. Brown and other top city officials kicked off ...

CitiStat in Spotlight as Brown Plans to Track Efficiency

Apr-16-2006
Starting this summer, city officials will huddle twice a month in a newly built "war room" in City Hall to dissect data and try to answer a question...