Local News

In 2015, Rochester Indymedia used the Freedom of Information Law on the city to obtain the base pay for the entire uniformed Rochester Police Department.

We were going to combine this information with the police demographics for 2015 (see the demographic information for 2015), but we didn't have enough variables to make a 1 to 1 comparison.

Some highlights from the November 2015 data regarding the base pay of Rochester police officers are:

Professor and activist Wendy Lynne Lee spoke at the Flying Squirrel Community Space on July 21 2016. Lee is a professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg. The event was sponsored by the Green Party of Monroe County. The talk was about sustainability and how current social and philosophical attitudes make achieving it more difficult. The accompanying photo show showed the effects of fracking in Pennsylvania and world wide climate change. The video includes the full lecture, photos and follow up questions.

To say we live in scary times is an accurate description of today. Even if we put aside the most pressing issues that the Black Lives Matter movement has brought front and center to the national consciousness, there’s still wars abroad that the USA is involved in (most notably in the Middle East), fascist demagogues making power plays for the White House, environmental degradation, and probably some other global problems I’m forgetting. It’s hard enough to fight the good fight for these issues even when one is completely mentally sound and competent – just imagine though what it’s like when you want to contribute positively towards these causes, only to have your already existing mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc., holding you back.

Having a mental health-related disorder is already perceived as a stigma enough as it is in our society. When it prevents you from working and fighting for the causes you want to fight for, it can feel even more debilitating. However, it’s important to keep in mind that despair solves nothing – while helping to further society’s progression is easier said than done when you suffer from mental health issues, it can be done. You just need to do so in a way that fits within your capabilities and gives you that sense of accomplishment. And helping progressive causes can actually do a lot to help one’s depression, anxiety, etc., because helping others in and of itself is beneficial to the human mind.

With that, here are some ways to help causes such as Black Lives Matter that those who suffer from depression, anxiety, or other issues can do. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, nor is it meant to be one-size-fits-all. There are probably other ways to help progressive causes that aren’t mentioned here, or that maybe your local organizations can come up with. But these are the most obvious methods.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Traffic Safety Facts Report from the same year, 2.5 million reported intersection accidents occurred in the United States during 2012. In total, the reported crashes resulted in over 680,000 injuries

and 2,850 fatalities. Accidents caused by red light running accounted for 100,000 of those accidents and 1,000 of the fatalities (SRF Associates, 2014, p. 1). With 35% of fatalities coming from a mere 4% of all reported accidents, red light running poses a clear threat to all motorists and pedestrians crossing the street at busy intersections.

“Red light running” is defined as a vehicle that enters an intersection or crosses the stop line after the light has turned red. This could include not fully stopping before turning right, passing through a red light after it changes from yellow and going through a red light while other movements in the intersection (turn arrows, pedestrian crossings) are being served (SRF Associates, 2014, p. 1). Several studies have found that red light camera programs reduce the number and rate of red light violations. In the last decade, over 400 cities have utilized these programs to combat this public health concern. The theory is that putting Red Light Cameras at intersections with a noted history of red light violations and recording these violations for prosecution will alter motorist behavior; the threat of a ticket will prevent or reduce instances of red light running. In addition, the change in motorist behavior will ultimately reduce overall accidents and injuries thus promoting public safety (SRF Associates, 2014, p. 2). In April, 2009 New York State passed legislation clearing the way for Rochester to implement its Red Light Traffic Enforcement Program (Bortnick, 2009). Since the program went live in November 2010, 48 cameras have been installed at 32 intersections in the city of Rochester (SRF Associates, 2014, p. 1).

Description of Community

According to 2010 Census data, there are 1,054,000 million people in the Greater Rochester Area with 210,565 of them residing in the city. The Greater Rochester Area is the second largest economic center in New York State, trailing only New York City. Including Enter City which is primarily downtown, there are a total of 36 neighborhoods in the City of Rochester  (Rochester, NY Neighborhoods, 2016); for a list and color coded map of neighborhoods refer to the Appendix. The yellow block in the middle is Center City, containing what is considered “downtown.” Areas in green are considered high desirability, high safety and low crime neighborhoods. Areas in red are considered to be low desirability, low safety and high crime neighborhoods.

The color coded map of Rochester reveals a few startling facts. First, the red neighborhoods on the map are all geographically connected to each other. They form “The Crescent;” an area of concentrated poverty representing the highest proportion of black, Latino and immigrant residents. As of 2015, Rochester had more people living at less than half the federal poverty level than any other American city of comparable size with 16.2% of those living in extreme poverty (Crescent of Poverty, 2015). Second, of the 36 separate neighborhoods listed in the Appendix, 14 of them are color coded red. Two neighborhoods the map codes in green (Susan B. Anthony and Brown Square) are mislabeled. On the map in the Appendix, there are two small areas west of Center City identified as high desirability, high safety and low crime. My experience working in these neighborhoods has shown them to be two of the most economically challenged and dangerous.

The Brown Square area includes the “Fruit Belt;” a grouping of streets named after fruits known for poverty, crime and high immigrant populations (Governale, 2015). Located near Sahlen’s Stadium where the Rochester Rhinos play, this troubled neighborhood also contains Enrico Fermi School #17. New York State test scores consistently show School #17 to be one of the lowest performing schools in the state, firmly entrenched in the bottom 1% of all schools for the last decade (School #17- Enrico Fermi, 2016). The Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood has historically been considered part of the Crescent (Crescent of Poverty, 2015), so I added these neighborhoods to those coded in red. That brings the total number of high crime, low safety and low desirability neighborhoods to 16, or 44% of the 36 identified areas.

The Red-Light Camera Traffic Safety Program is contained within the City of Rochester, meaning there are no cameras at any suburban intersections. Of the 36 neighborhoods considered part of the city proper, 16 contain red light cameras. It is important to point out that there are no traffic cameras on Main St. in Center City, and the lack of cameras in one of the highest traffic areas in the County compared to other chosen intersections is alarming. Excluding downtown, 11 of the 15 neighborhoods are considered high crime, low safety and low desirability.

The original article, cross-posted with permission, can be found at: https://medium.com/@I.MMA70/what-islam-means-to-the-white-male-through-the-lens-of-a-bullet-covered-in-bacon-grease-129d42a03ea5#.y3iviiqmc

What Islam means to the White Male- Through the lens of a Bullet Covered in Bacon Grease

It’s a little ridiculous that after more than 20 years of being born and raised in the US, having received a proper American education, and chosen to serve a career in the public sector, that I am deemed a terrorist or a demon in the eyes of the White Male. It’s also a little ridiculous knowing that due to the unforeseen nature of terrorist attacks that the White Male feels that he has the privilege to take matters into his own hands. How obscene it is that the White Male believes he has privileges…oh, wait…

You’re right, White Male, I am of the nature of the unforeseen, I am the modest and the hopeful, I am the one you will never understand. For too long, you have maneuvered your way around every person that does not carry the color of your skin or the same genitalia. For too long, you have weakened all other races and ethnicity in your eyes, just so that you may carry on with yourself as you do in 892 other Active Hate Groups that exist in this Country. Staring at a map created by the Southern Poverty Law Center, I’m throwing up in my mouth a little as I noticed a Black Separatist Group is only miles away from my home.

Seventeenth Century French grenadier soldiers on the left; 21st Century police from St. Paul, MN at the Republican National Convention in 2008 on the right

On May 2, 2016, I sat in court to observe jury selection with other members of Enough is Enough in support of Scean Gordon, arrested as he filmed the illegal handcuffing, search, and abduction of his friend, Daryl Appleberry who was racially profiled and targeted by Rochester Police Department officers Nicholas Thomas and Christopher Kosch. The infamous race-baiting, bully cops insisted their behavior was a legitimate case of mistaken identity. Mr. Gordon, however, recorded Mr. Appleberry repeatedly clarifying his identity, his family members anxiously shouting that the police had the wrong person and naming him correctly, the cops illegally searching Mr. Appleberry's person without permission, and then police forcing Mr. Appleberry into a police cruiser and beginning to drive away with him. All this activity occurred without a warrant or any legally required effort to speak with the family members who offered identification, or required response to Mr. Appleberry’s saying he did not consent to search.

Having infuriated the police with his loud insistence on legality, Mr. Gordon was targeted, chased down, beaten and maced, and arrested under false charges. He chose to stand trial, rebutting police lies and their brutal treatment of him, rather than admit to guilt in a false plea deal.

I'd been part of a small team that attended the Huntley Hearing for the case, listening to police testimony. Later we FOILed and transcribed the sworn testimony of the two officers' claims and compared their words, frame by frame to the videos that Mr. Gordon himself, and Daryl Appleberry's sister, Diamond, had taken of the episode. I could easily see for myself that the accusations were largely untrue; the police lied in answer to nearly every question asked about their behavior from the start of the episode to its brutal end. There seemed some hope that if we could get the video and the testimony shown to a jury Scean might have, before a jury of his peers, a chance at justice.

Below is a .pdf of the most recent Rochester Police Department General Orders Manual. According to the Records Access Office, which handles FOIL requests for the City of Rochester, these general orders were the most recent version to date. The document was dated March of 2016 and it is the most recent document to date with the General Orders.

In the "Attestation," Chief Michael Ciminelli of the Rochester Police Department attests: