"Police Board Opposed," Times-Union, August 12, 1964
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Below is a scanned image of a newspaper clipping referencing a New York City councilman who cited a representative of the National Association of Colored People Philadelphia branch and a Rochester "policewoman" in their contempt of the Police Advisory Board and boards like them around the country. Alternatives to the boards (the chief of police, the FBI, and the federal court system) were raised as proof that no boards were needed. The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch. "Police Board Opposed," was written by Cliff Smith. It was published in the Times-Union newspaper on August 12, 1964.
While the Police Advisory Board became law on March 26, 1963 to address complaints against officers who used "excessive and unnecessary force" against civilians, the Locust Club police union did everything in its power to thwart it from actually accomplishing anything. Two injunctions were slapped on it by the court preventing it from conducting independent investigations and forwarding recommendations to the chief of police--it's primary functions. By the mid-1960s, new appointments to the board were needed to meet quorum in order for it to do its work. But neither Democrats nor Republicans appointed anyone to the board after it was found constitutional by the courts in 1969. It was then defunded and abolished in 1970 by the new Republican Party-lead Rochester city government.
