Elections / Legislation

Police Accountability Board Alliance Responds to Mayor’s Police Accountability Proposal

Press Statement

The Police Accountability Board Alliance made the statement below on September 17, 2018 after reviewing the draft ordinance released by Rochester City Council:

Rochester City Council shared a draft of legislation for a Rochester Police Accountability Board with the Alliance recently. However, City Council’s draft fails to establish the five essential pillars of accountability that the Alliance has been demanding. The five essential pillars for an effective Police Accountability Board are:

The Ordinance Revision Committee of the Police Accountability Board Organizing Committe spent the month of October in 2017 revising and strengthening the ordinance found in the second half of the report "The Case for an Independent Police Accountability System: Transforming the Civilian Review Process in Rochester, New York" co-authored by Barbara Lacker-Ware and Theodore Forsyth. The ordinance below should be replace the ordinance in the February 2017 report.

Victims of a psychopathic society have no recourse

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For 20 years I have proven that the fbi, police, USPI and members of the general population commit atrocities against me in a manner that also characterizes this overthrown regime’s unlawful and inhumane assaults on others globally. As I try to bring forth evidence to support my reports in courts and in congress, the crimes against me just “go on & on & on” for 30 years.

Rochester Indymedia and Open Mic are going to be cross posting and collaborating in the coming months on various stories. This is one of the first pieces to be cross posted. We're excited to be working with Open Mic! Check out the original article here: http://www.openmicroc.com/exploring-mayor-lovely-warrens-time-in-office/

Mayor Lovely Warren discusses her time in office. Credit: Michele Ashlee.

Sharing the background of many of Rochester’s black residents, Mayor Lovely Warren’s grandparents migrated north seeking better economic opportunities. And like many of our grandparents, hers didn’t find it either, settling instead for labor.

Graduating from the Rochester City School District, she went on to college, law school, then became a lawyer before working in the community and later leading City Council as the youngest to ever do so.

And then that granddaughter of migrators, sharecroppers, laborers, became Rochester’s first black female mayor.

Mayor Lovely Warren took office in January 2014. However, it hasn’t been an easy three years. In fact, the first year of her term saw a number of scathing reports and criticism from the community. She created security positions in her office, claiming she was being threatened, and then gave them to family members. She was constantly criticized for her handling of the press and many were worried that she wasn’t as good of a pick for Rochester as they’d first hoped.

Going into 2017, Warren hasn’t announced yet if she’ll campaign for re-election. Already James Sheppard, County Legislator for the 23rd District, has announced his campaign for her seat and Rachel Barnhart who recently lost a bid for the State Assembly against Rep. Harry Bronson is toying with a mayoral run as well. Both have charged that Warren has made no change, prompting OM to look at Warren’s time in office.

We looked at four pillars as we examined her “legacy:” development, social justice, violence and crime, and putting Rochester on the map.

"10 Vow to Fight Advisory Board," has no author. The article was published in the Democrat & Chronicle on September 17, 1965. Ten candidates for City Council, Conservative and Republican parties, made it clear that they would fight to abolish the Police Advisory Board. Citizens for Abolition of the Police Advisory Board mailed their political statements to some "500 city policemen." The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch.

"'People Should Vote On Advisory Board'," is a letter to the editor written by Russell C. Sciolino of the city. It was published in the Democrat & Chronicle on April 22, 1965. Russell is proud "of our boys" but the Police Advisory Board ties the hands of the officers behind their backs. He wants a referendum on whether to keep the board or not. He reminds us that "Their lives are always in danger trying to protect everybody." The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch.