Breaking: Public Safety Chair says "The City of Rochester has lost control of its police force."
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On June 29, 2011, City Council member Adam McFadden wrote a memo to Mayor Thomas S. Richards, Police Chief James Sheppard, and City Council President Lovely A. Warren warning them that the "City of Rochester has lost control of its police force."
"From my first day in office almost eight years ago and long before I became Chair of City Council's Public Safety Committee, an overwhelming number of calls to my office were the complaints of private citizens about their treatment by the Rochester Police Department. The overwhelming majority of these complaints were made by people of color; and overwhelmingly, these complaints were ignored by various administrations and police chiefs," wrote McFadden.
Further down the memo, McFadden goes on to say that, "Our policing system is broken," and that "We are on the verge of a public safety disaster."
He called it "shameful" that the RPD has done little to "improve minority hiring practices."
The memo: Adam McFadden's memo to Mayor Richards, Chief Sheppard, and City Council President Warren
