Attached is Rochester City Council's Rochester Police Accountability Board proposed legislation. It very closely mirrors the language of the negotiated ordinance with the exception of two areas:
1. Composition. Instead of an 11 member board with 6 members selected by the Police Accountability Board Alliance, 4 by City Council and 1 from the Mayor, the proposed board would be a 9 member board with 4 from the Alliance, 4 from each district of Council, and one appointee from the Mayor.
Attached is a PDF of the negotiated Police Accountability Board proposed legislation. This legislation was developed in concert with the Public Safety Committee of the Rochester City Council, the Police Accountabiity Board Alliance, the United Christian Leadership Ministry of Western, NY, and the Genesee Valley Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union. This legislation was not formally introduced by City Council but is very close to the legislation Council released.
Attached is a PDF of Mayor Lovely Warren's Police Accountability Board proposed legislation. According to the Police Accountability Board Alliance, who has been working with City Council to draft meaningful legislation, the Mayor's proposal is a failure. Specifically, the legislation:
The Police Accountability Board Alliance made the statement below on September 17, 2018 after reviewing the draft ordinance released by Rochester City Council:
Rochester City Council shared a draft of legislation for a Rochester Police Accountability Board with the Alliance recently. However, City Council’s draft fails to establish the five essential pillars of accountability that the Alliance has been demanding. The five essential pillars for an effective Police Accountability Board are:
The PDFs below represent Rochester City Councuil's first drafts of a Police Accountability Board ordinance as well as the Rules and Procedures governing such an ordinance.
The Way Forward: Police Accountability in Rochester (August 1, 2018) published by the Police Accountability Board Alliance (see PDF link below) is their response and way forward to the City establishing a Police Accountability Board. The document reviews the recent history, offers a legal analysis of the both the Harris Beach legal opinion on the question of discipline and the Rebuttal from the City's attorney.
Submitted by Rochester Indymedia / videography: Travis Lewis on Wed, 2018-09-19 13:37
On August 22, 2017, the Police Accountability Board Organizing Committee and the Rochester Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority presented a city council candidate forum. The forum will gave community members a chance to ask questions about each candidate's stance on the proposed independent Police Accountability Board as the election season approached.
Statement from City Council President Loretta C. Scott Regarding the Police Accountability Board
The City Council has been performing a continuous evaluation of the process for reviewing citizen complaints against members of the Rochester Police Department. This review is not to be taken lightly, and the process is not one that can be rushed. We are committed to implementing a real solution that addresses the community’s call for increased trust, accountability and transparency.
In the spirit of transparency, I will continue to update the community periodically. I want folks to know where we are in the process and where we are going. Earlier this year the City Council issued a Request for Proposals to obtain a legal opinion that would answer the critical question of whether or not a Police Accountability Board could be legally empowered to discipline police officers. Harris Beach, PLLC was selected to review this question and provided Council with their opinion. The City of Rochester’s Law Department reviewed this opinion and provided a differing perspective. (Both documents are attached).
Below is the PDF of Corporation Counsel Tim Curtin's rebuttal to the Harris Beach legal opinion. Rochester City Council hired Harris Beach to weigh in on the question of "May the proposed PAB be legally empowered to discipline police officers of the Rochester Police Department?"
The rebuttal was dated May 9, 2018. The Harris Beach opinion was issued on May 3, 2018. Both documents were attached to a statement released by Rochester City Council President Loretta Scott on June 21, 2018.
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