"Lauds Police Board Criticism," Times-Union, October 1, 1964
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Below is a scanned image of a letter to the editor from the Times-Union. The letter, "Lauds Police Board Criticism," written by Barbara Prattis from the city, talked about how "delighted" she was that the Police Advisory Board "came under fire" by the FBI. She wrote that the board serves no other purpose than to "create difficulty for police and promulgate ill will toward them." The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch. "Lauds Police Board Criticism," a letter to the editor, was written by Barbara Prattis from the city. It was published in the Times-Union newspaper on October 1, 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.
