"Police Board's Work is Done," Democrat & Chronicle, January 11, 1965
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"Police Board's Work is Done" is a Democrat & Chronicle article, with no listed author, that was published on January 11, 1965. The article starts with the introduction of a resolution to abolish the Police Advisory Board. After describing the "cynical" political calculations, the article editorializes that if the board was to be abolished, it "...is a matter of common sense, not political nonsense." The "newspaper" then claims it was for the board in 1963 to be used as "a safety valve for the cauldron of emotions" and as a way to "check" if brutality was happening. The paper argues, 22 months later, for its abolition, because 1) it served its purpose as a safety valve, 2) it's an insult to "good" officers who take oaths that include nondiscrimination when upholding the law, and 3) it "makes a mess of the democratic process" by confusing lines of authority which creates suffering among the police force because of the "crippling inhibitions of a divided command." Can't we just give the police another chance to "keep the peace"? Good grief. The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch.
While the Police Advisory Board became law in 1963 to address complaints against officers who complainants said used "excessive and unnecessary force" against them, the Locust Club police union did everything in its power to thwart it from actually accomplishing anything. Two federal injunctions were slapped on it by the court preventing it from conducting 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. In 1969, it was found constitutional by the courts, but to no avail. It was defunded and abolished in 1970 by the new Republican Party-lead Rochester city government.
