Local News

The Conservative Party of Monroe County spoke out against the Police Advisory Board in a letter to Rochester City Council dated March 26, 1963. See the scanned letter to council below in .pdf form. This document was sent to us by the City of Rochester after it received our Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request.

Below is a scanned image of a newspaper clipping regarding patrolmen Vito D'Ambrosia and Michael Rotolo who were cleared by the Police Advisory Board of using excessive force in an arrest. The board stated in their report that the officers “used no more force than necessary,” as was quoted in a Democrat & Chronicle article from October 12, 1965.The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch. "Advisory Board Denies Cops Used 'Extra Force'," has no by-line.

Below is a scanned image of a newspaper clipping regarding 10 cases that were reviewed by the Police Advisory Board in February 1968 after more than a two year hiatus from doing its work because of a court injunction. The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch. "10 Cases Reviewed By PAB," has no by-line. It was published in the Democrat & Chronicle newspaper on February 2, 1968.

Below is a scanned image of a newspaper clipping regarding the first report of the Police Advisory Board. The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch. "'Business' Slow for Police Board," didn't have a by-line. It was published in the Democrat & Chronicle newspaper on August 8, 1964. While the Police Advisory Board became law in 1963, the Locust Club police union did everything in its power to thwart it from actually accomplishing anything.

It seems that Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and City of Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren HAVE NO LONG-TERM PLAN to house the homeless. Posts for new fencing have been placed under the Frederick Douglass / Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge where Sanctuary Village pitched camp last fall and early winter. Apparently, a long-term plan does NOT mean finding sustainable, quality housing for folks, but rather fences to keep them from creating another tent city once they are kicked out from the Canal St. building.

On April 10, 2015, the Rochester Coalition for Police Reform (CPR) invited Professional Standards Section (PSS) (the Rochester Police Department's internal affairs unit) to present on what they do and how they operate. Listen to the audio with notes above.

The presenters were Lieutenant Michael Callari, PSS Commanding Officer and Sergeant Robert Snow, PSS Investigating Sergeant.

Listening to the Lieutenant and the Sergeant, I was struck by the obvious deployment of public relations jujitsu and propaganda, where the PSS mission "...is to preserve the integrity and professionalism of the RPD." I did not hear "hold officers accountable," nor did I see any sign of meaningful transparency or justice. Ask either of these guys to talk to you about their "unbiased" investigations or about the integrity of their investigative process, and I'm sure they could have gone on for days. I did hear about certain New York State laws that make police disciplinary records inaccessible to the public because of confidentiality concerns and that if we wanted to change the system, it needed to be done legislatively, by us, not these same officers supposedly interested in justice, transparency, and truth.

At 3:23 in this video interview [above] of Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch’s infamous pre-Superbowl press conference he has a “shout-out to Westbrook.” Russell Westbrook is the other mega sports star who began sabotaging the press with non-interviews. In the January 17th, post-game interview [below] Westbrook answers every question posed to him with “we did a good job of executing.” After a half dozen of those, Berry Tramel - a sports columnist for an Oklahoma newspaper finally asks, “Are you upset with somethin’?” Westbrook pauses a second, stares right at Tramel and says, “I just don’t like you.”

The more telling shout-out from Lynch comes at 3:42 of the video where he says “shout out to my real Africans out there.” On two different occasions during that interview he acknowledged the black members of the press with “what’s up my African.” Just in case that exchange didn’t spell it out for the ruling sport reporting caste, Lynch and Westbrook have a problem with you.

That problem is the “1.3 percent doctrine” a term coined by Scoop Jackson - a sports writer for ESPN who just so happens to be black. He references a 2006 study conducted by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida. The study found the number of black sports editors at APSE newspapers in America to be four out of 305, which equates to 1.3 percent.

On April 1, 2015, George Douglass was forcibly evicted from his home by the Rochester Police Department under the orders of Wells Fargo bank.

An eviction of this magnitude & force, utilizing 10+ police cars and 20 or so officers plus marshal Sande Macaluso and a subcontractor diving a truck with plates from Michigan, hasn't been seen since the eviction of Virginia Henry and before her
Catherine Lennon in 2011.

"I feel violated, I really do. I feel terrible, but I'm going to hold on" said Mr. Douglass.

Community members and Take Back The Land Rochester arrived on the scene to bear witness and support George.

"I just want to thank every one for coming out here, and everything," said Mr. Douglass.

George Douglass evicted! Shame on Wells Fargo!

George Douglass EVICTED! an interview