Civil Liberties / Human Rights

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.

Force Science Institute Documentation

POLICE UNION CONTRACT "WAITING PERIODS" FOR MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS NOT SUPPORTED BY SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE (July 2015)

From Warriors to Guardians: Recommitting American Police Culture to Democratic Ideals (2015)

Biomechanics of Lethal Force Encounters - Officer Movements (2002)

Gathering Information: Race and Field Interviews by the Police in Rochester, New York. (2002)

From the Introduction:

The Problem of Racial Profiling

From the article Canada warned about controversial police shooting expert (2013):

Canadian authorities are being warned about a controversial U.S.-based "police psychologist" who critics say provides advocacy testimony for officers accused of wrongful shootings.

From the first page of ShotSpotter in limine motion from People v. Silvon Simmons (2017):

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that upon the annexed affirmation of Katherine Higgins, Esq., attorney for the defendant, the undersigned will move this Court, at a criminal term thereof, before the Honorable Sam L. Valleriani, Monroe County Court Judge, located at the Hall of Justice, City of Rochester, County of Monroe, on the 23rd day of March, 2017, at 9:30 a.m., or as soon thereafter as counsel may be heard, for the following relief: ...

From the "Executive Summary" of POLICE UNION CONTRACT "WAITING PERIODS" FOR MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS NOT SUPPORTED BY SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE (July 2015):

From the "Abstract" of The Case for an Independent Police Accountability System: Transforming the Civilian Review Process in Rochester, New York (Feb. 2017):

From the "Forward" of the Final Report of the Citizen's Committee on Police Affairs (1976):

This is the Report of the Citizens Committee on Police Affairs. It is the product of the work of fifteen persons appointed by the Honorable Thomas P. Ryan, Jr., Mayor of the City of Rochester, New York and the Rochester City Council.

The Committee was specifically charged to study and evaluate:

   a. The policy and procedures of the Rochester Police Department in regard to responding to crisis calls;