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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.
Below is the PDF of the Harris Beach legal opinion, solicited by Rochester City Council, regarding the question of "May the proposed PAB be legally empowered to discipline police officers of the Rochester Police Department?"
The opinion was dated May 3, 2018. The Corporation Counsel for the City of Rochester issued his rebuttal on May 9, 2018. Both documents were attached to a statement released by Rochester City Council President Loretta Scott on June 21, 2018.
Residents of Rochester NY held a candlelight vigil on July 18 2018 against corruption in business and government. The action was in solidarity with over 60 other cities nationwide.
Rochester Police Department (RPD) officers Matthew Drake, Steven Mitchell, and Jeffrey Kester were caught on store surveillance cameras brutalizing David Vann and are named in a federal civil rights lawsuit along with the city of Rochester and several other officers, investigators and supervisors alleging police brutality, violations of Mr. Vann’s constitutional rights, and a police cover-up. Mr. Vann is represented by Elliot Dolby-Shields, Esq. of Roth & Roth LLP; the lawsuit was filed on May 16, 2018.
The anti-police brutality group Enough Is Enough (EIE) recently released to Rochester Indymedia an edited video of the incident as well as the convenience store surveillance camera footage. The group screened the edited video at the Intersections of Rebellion and Accountability panel discussion held in late May. Members of Enough Is Enough were present at Mr. Vann’s criminal trial and received the footage directly from him at that time. You can watch the edited clip below and the raw surveillance camera footage at the bottom of the article.
Submitted by Black Lives Matter ROC on Tue, 2018-07-10 05:34
(July 9th, 2018) Rochester, NY- Saturday, July 7th, 2018, 16 people were arrested while peacefully declaring the mantra, “Black Lives Matter”. The protesters were making a statement against the harsh reality that black lives aren’t valued or held in the same regard as white lives. Black Lives Matter Roc organized a demonstration in Downtown Rochester that concluded with an act of civil disobedience on the intersection of Woodbury and S. Clinton Avenue. Rochester Police Department deployed a contingent of riot police equipped with less-lethal weapons around 7:15pm disrupting the peaceful demonstration. Organizers decided to forego interviews with the media, bearing in mind that mainstream media has historically acted to distort the narratives of those in the struggle for black lives, equality, and equity, as they saw fit. We are not without the guidance of our mighty ancestor, Frederick Douglass.
On June 15, 2018, Catherine Bonner was in state Supreme Court Justice Charles Schiano Jr.'s court regarding a menacing a police officer charge stemming from the allegation that she pointed a gun out of a broken window of her home at an officer–after the officer told her ex that it was OK to break into the house.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Bezer began the proceeding by telling the judge that after review of the case against Ms. Bonner, the Monroe County District Attorney's Office was submitting a motion to withdraw and dismiss the charge.
This is a book review of Cedric Alexander's The New Guardians: Policing in America's Communities for the Twenty-first Century. Alexander was Rochester's Interim Chief of Police in 2005 and recently became Rochester's deputy mayor.
The Good: I appreciate the fact that one of Rochester’s former police chiefs and the current deputy mayor wrote an autobiography. It gave me some insight into his career in Rochester (and elsewhere). Some of the highlights for me were: 1) he introduced Tasers into the Rochester Police Department; 2) he crafted the Disturbed Person Emergency Response Team (now called the Emotionally Disturbed Person Response Team (EDPRT) in Rochester); 3) he offered a snap shot in time of the politics between the department and the decision-makers in Rochester; 4) he offered clear definitions of police legitimacy and community policing; and 5) he tells a good story and offers plenty of anecdotes. Honestly, his own progression through his law enforcement career was kind of interesting reading. It’s the other stuff that was disconcerting about his book.
The Bad: I’ve selected four issues that need unpacking: Alexander’s treatment of Plato’s Republic, individual experience vs. systemic patterns and practices of abuse, trust the state, and war / no war.
On March 19, 2018, members of the Police Accountability Board transition team, members of the PAB Alliance, and supporting organizations held a community forum meant to update the public as well as offer actions to take in support of the campaign.
Submitted by Rochester Indymedia (feature photo: RYAN WILLIAMSON/City Newspaper) on Sun, 2018-02-25 07:36
Enough Is Enough held a press conference on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 to once again call on the City of Rochester to pass the Police Accountability Board and end a 50-year demand for community control and give civilians the power to independently investigate, adjudicate, and discipline Rochester Police Department officers for misconduct.
Submitted by Rochester Indymedia on Sat, 2018-02-24 15:22
Attached is the Enough Is Enough response to the Center for Governmental Research paper that reviewed the civilian oversight of police processes in Rochester, NY. Achieving Police Accountability in Rochester Clarifying: misconceptions and adding commentary to the report on police oversight commissioned by City Council was released publicaly at a press conference held by the group and its allies on February 20, 2018.
1 Introduction
In February of 2017, Enough Is Enough (EIE) and the Rochester Coalition for Police Reform, jointly released The Case for an Independent Police Accountability System: Transforming the Civilian Review Process in Rochester, New York (hereafter “PAB report”). The report, authored by Barbara Lacker-Ware and Theodore Forsyth, reviewed the process for civil- ians to make complaints regarding police misconduct. The researchers looked at annual reports from the Professional Standards Section (PSS, the Rochester Police Department’s internal affairs division) and the Civilian Review Board (CRB) administered by the Center for Dispute Settlement (CDS) as well as reports of racial profiling and police misconduct by members of the community. According to CRB annual reports (2001-16), of the 929 civilian- generated allegations of force over 16 years, the Chief of Police sustained only 16 of them (1.7%). According to PSS annual reports (2002-16), there were only 13 instances of officer discipline stemming from such allegations. Of those, the harshest were six suspensions.1
The PAB report as well as several high-profile cases of police brutality in the news, prompted City Council to thoroughly investigate the process used by civilians who have experienced police misconduct. City Council contracted with the Center for Governmental Research
(CGR) to conduct an independent review. Simultaneously, City Council used its subpoena power for the first time to review the PSS investigation of the claims made by Rickey Bryant Jr., a minor who was brutalized by over a dozen officers in a case of apparent mistaken identity as he was riding his bike in the summer of 2016. Although Mr. Bryant was never charged with a crime, he sustained severe injuries, for which the police were not held accountable.
On June 20, 2017, Rochester City Council approved a contract with CGR specifically to review “the functioning and outcomes related to civilian complaints about police conduct, and how they have been handled/disposed of by PSS, CRB, and the Chief of Police,” as well as “information on best practices and options to consider for civilian oversight of police, based on a review of practices in other New York cities.”
A draft of CGR’s report, Police Oversight In Rochester: An Examination of Outcomes and Other Models (hereafter “CGR report”), was completed by the end of September 2017, whereupon City Council requested more information. CGR then presented their report to City Council on November 30, 2017. The report was released to the public that night by the city of Rochester on their website.
Members of EIE have reviewed the CGR report and found several issues that warrant a response. Specifically:
Contrary to common misconceptions, state law does not preclude the proposed Police Accountability Board from disciplining officers.
Analysis of the data concerning the current civilian review process needs to focus specifically on the most serious allegations: those filed by civilians concerning use of force.
The relevant outcomes must go beyond sustain rates and include whether al- legations of misconduct ultimately result in discipline for the officers involved. Presently, civilian-initiated allegations of force rarely result in discipline (only 13 instances over the period 2002-16). Disciplinary power needs to be an essential feature of the proposed PAB.
The Syracuse Citizen Review Board, which has independent power of investi- gation, sustained significantly more civilian-initiated allegations of force than Rochester’s CRB (four times more often over the period 2013-16). Independent investigatory authority needs to be an essential feature of the proposed PAB.
We are hopeful that City Council will evaluate and prioritize these concerns in the legislation that is ultimately enacted.
1The PAB report analyzed CRB reports over the period 2001-15 and PSS reports over the period 2002-16. Here we have also included the data for 2016, which has since become available.
One year after the inauguration of the 45th President, Rochester again rallied in Washington Square to protest his policies. Earlier that same day the Federal Government was shut down over a financial impasse with the White House and a dispute over immigration. While expressing their displeasure many of those who spoke also offered a path forward. Let us hope that those in DC will listen.
Rochester Indymedia is now requiring editor approval for account creation.
We came to this decision after we had repeated spam posted to our website that caused difficulty with the website's functioning. We will still have open publishing and keep our site as nonrestrictive and accessible as possible.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. As before, we will continue to be Rochester's grassroots news and education site. Thank you for your continued support and remember, "Don't hate the media, be the media!"
Editorial Meeting Times / Locations
The Rochester Independent Media Center (R-IMC) is no longer meeting regularly. We will set up meetings by necessity and appointment. Please contact us at rochesterindymedia@rocus.org. Our home is still the Flying Squirrel Community Space at 285 Clarissa St. Occasionally, we hold meetings at RCTV located at 21 Gorham Street.
