"'Dump Police Review Board'," Times-Union, December 31, 1965
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Below is a letter to the editor (with commentary from the editors) from the Times-Union. The letter, "'Dump Police Review Board'," was written by John Morcan of the city and was published on December 31, 1965. Morcan says, "The board should be dumped." That was about all that was worth mention. The editorial note after is longer than the letter. The Times-Union apparently cannot help but gloat since Supreme Court Justice Jacob Ark eliminated all the powers of the board except that of receiving complaints. The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch.
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.
