Civilian review board In 1992 the City of Rochester created a
civilian review board to review internal police investigations when a civilian alleges that a police officer used excessive force or committed a crime. The police chief made the final decisions on all complaints. In 2019, voters approved plans to create a civilian Police Accountability Board that replaced the previous review board. The new nine-member board functions as an independent city office with the purpose of investigating officer misconduct. It has additional resources that its predecessor lacked, such as subpoena power and ability to discipline officers. A New York State Supreme Court ruling in March 2020 struck down the board’s proposed discipline powers after a lawsuit was filed by the Rochester Police Locust Club, the city police union. The City Council filed an appeal of the decision, but no action has occurred yet.
Police shootings Operation Cool Down In July 2012, the RPD announced Operation Cool Down with the stated purpose to crack down on violence in community. The initiative includes increased police presence in minority neighborhoods with a strategy to target minor offenses. Operation Cool Down has prompted a backlash of criticism for racial profiling from residents, the ACLU, and Chair of City Council's Public Safety Committee Adam McFadden.
Mass surveillance A May 2012 national study that examined density of traffic cameras, red light cameras, and police surveillance cameras and authorized wiretaps found Rochester, NY to be the fifth most surveilled city in the country. Rochester, NY was found only to be behind Washington, D.C., Houston, Denver, and Cheyenne. The NYCLU among other community groups have questioned the effectiveness of the
mass surveillance tactics and whether they invade the privacy of everyday law-abiding civilians. and international media coverage. Good was charged with Obstructing Governmental Administration but after the video was released the Monroe County District Attorney withdrew the charge.
Riot gear at Puerto Rican Festival Starting in at least 2004, Rochester Police have come under criticism by their now common practice showing up in riot gear after the Puerto Rican festival. In 2007, festival organizer Ida Perez called the police response "overkill." While many festival goers say honking, dancing, and street partying is all in good fun, police say riot gear is necessary to clear out the neighborhood.
2009 peace march On October 7, 2009, the eighth anniversary of the start of the Afghanistan war, the Rochester police broke up a peace march protesting the Afghanistan war organized by Rochester Students for a Democratic Society with a massive police response which included at least 40 police. In the end twelve people were arrested, two were hospitalized for their injuries sustained from police. The severe police response drew massive public outcry. Executive Deputy Police Chief Markert admitted the police could have acted differently to ensure everyone's safety. Although Rochester police promised a full report on incident, no report was ever released and it remains unclear if any changes were made in result of the public response or the internal investigation.
2012 anti-capitalist march On July 22, 2012, Rochester police broke up a peaceful anti-capitalist march on East Avenue with pepper spray and 18 arrests. Police were criticized for the large use of pepper spray, not giving dispersal orders, and police brutality. Police claim protesters were blocking the street and refused to move, but videos from the march indicate that many protesters were arrested while walking on the sidewalk.
Killing of Daniel Prude The encounter of
Daniel Prude with Rochester Police officers on March 23, 2020, and his subsequent death on March 30, sparked intense national criticism of the agency, for a nearly six-month delay in suspending the officers involved, city and department leaders withholding information from the public, and for an aggressive police response to protests. Officers located a missing Prude—disturbed, naked and in the middle of the street at 3 am—placing him into handcuffs, which he complied to. Prude, suffering from a mental health episode, tries to stand and several officers used restraining techniques to control him. Within several minutes, he goes from fully conscious and alert, to being without a pulse and not breathing. While his heartbeat was restored by paramedics, he was functionally brain-dead, and when disconnected from life support one week later, pronounced dead. The Monroe County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide, with "complications from
asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint",
excited delirium and
PCP intoxication listed as factors. On September 2, the Prude family and their attorneys publicly announced Daniel Prude's death and released obtained body-camera footage that depicted the events of March 23. Police never disclosed or publicly acknowledged the event until after his family did so. Police Chief La'Ron Singletary strongly denied any cover-up by Rochester Police. Officers involved in Prude's death were suspended with pay, as required by law, by the Mayor on September 4. On September 5, New York State Attorney General Leticia James announced creation of a grand jury to investigate his death. Protests started on September 2, and continued many days afterwards. Police repeatedly clashed with protesters, facing further scrutiny for crowd control tactics used on multiple nights that escalated tensions. City Hall, the Public Safety Building, and two police substations have been locations of marches and protests. Protesters marched and assembled at police barricades surrounding city buildings the evenings of Sept 2 through the 5th. Crowds were dispersed multiple nights in a row through use of tear gas, pepper spray, pepper balls, an
LRAD and flash bangs after some in the crowds threw objects including rocks, fireworks and water bottles at officers. The protest organizers have repeatedly called for the resignation of Police Chief La'Ron Singletary, who initially refused; and Mayor Lovely Warren. Protesters demanded that involved officers be fired, criminally prosecuted, and barred from future police employment. On September 8, Police Chief Singletary and the entire command staff announced their retirements from their police department positions. Singletary was then fired by Mayor Lovely Warren on September 14, prior to his planned departure on Sept 29. Three Deputy Police Chiefs departed, one retiring, the other two returning to their previous ranks as Lieutenant and Captain. Two Commanders also departed, one retiring and one returning to previous rank of Lieutenant. A grand jury declined to issue any indictments against the seven officers involved in Daniel Prude’s death, after being announced by Attorney General Leticia James on February 23. James said that although she respects the grand jury decision, she was extremely disappointed, feeling there was sufficient evidence for officers to be charged following an investigation by her office. She noted several recommendations for changes in state law and department policy, regarding police response to mental health calls, de-escalation training for officers, and the use of spit hood alternatives.
January 2021 Avenue B incident On January 29, 2021, Rochester police responding to a domestic dispute found a 9-year-old girl in crisis. They handcuffed her and one of them told her that she's "acting like a child", to which the girl responded that she actually
is a child. Officers then placed the girl in a squad car and pepper-sprayed her while she was still handcuffed. Initially, 17 minutes of bodycam footage of the incident were released on January 31, 2021, but on February 4, 2021, more videos were released, showing all the angles of the incident. In this compilation, an officer can be heard saying, "You did it to yourself, hon.", about a minute after the girl was pepper-sprayed. After that, in February 2021, the mother of the pepper-sprayed girl, Elba Pope, filed a lawsuit against the Rochester Police Department, to which government replied with a 15-day suspension to officer Alexander Lombard (born 1993) and administrative leave for officers Adam K. Bradstreet (born 1988) and Hannah Schneeberger (born 1994). The case caused a widespread outrage all over the area.
Handcuffing of EMT On July 11, 2022, RPD investigator Charles LoTempio was involved in an incident with Monroe Ambulance's emergency medical technician Lekia Smith at
Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
WHEC-TV reported that the incident arose from the investigator parking his unmarked police car in the ambulance bay in front of the emergency room of the hospital, which was followed by the EMT opening her ambulance door to unload a patient from the ambulance, causing the ambulance door to hit the police car. WHEC-TV further reported that when the investigator asked the EMT to identify herself, the EMT insisted on bringing her patient into the hospital before doing so. showed that the EMT had brought the patient into the hospital and was checking in the patient at the check-in desk, which was followed by the investigator pushing the EMT against the desk, handcuffing her and bringing her out of the hospital. Ultimately, the investigator uncuffed and released the EMT, and no charges were filed against the EMT. As a result of the incident, the investigator was first placed on administrative duty, and later on July 18, RPD announced that the investigator had been suspended with pay, pending investigation. The police union of Rochester criticized the suspension, claiming that the incident "reached a mutually acceptable resolution that day" when "both accepted each other’s explanations" for their actions; the EMT's lawyer responded that the union was providing a "jaw-dropping" lie as the investigator and EMT "never came to any agreement". A
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle review of records showed that RPD investigator Charles LoTempio received a 30-day suspension for excessive force and submitting an erroneous report in 2013, when he struck a handcuffed suspect with a metal flashlight, and failed to report that this strike occurred because LoTempio was trying to punch the suspect's chin. It also showed that LoTempio was officially reprimanded for conducting a
strip search on a suspect without a warrant in 2012, while also receiving a note on his record that he committed a "failure to execute a command order" in 2012.
Officer sentenced for rape and forcible touching In 2023, Rochester police officer Shawn Jordan was arrested and charged with allegedly exposing himself to a 16-year-old girl in an online video chat. The department suspended him without pay the same day. In a separate case, Jordan admitted to having had sex with a 13-year-old girl in 2022. He pled guilty to rape and
forcible touching. He was sentenced to 10 weekends in jail, and 10 years of probation. The victim's mother said that Jordan "ruined her daughter's life." ==Organization ==