Rochester Police Chief La’Ron Singletary recently announced that he and other commanding officers of the Rochester Police Department (RPD) would be resigning by the end of September. He, Corporation Counsel Tim Curtin, and Communications Director Justin Roj, and other command staff were planning their resignments or retirements after bodycam footage showing RPD officers asphyxiating Daniel Prude to the point of brain-death was made public. The fatal police brutality incident occurred in March, but it took the RPD half a year to release the bodycam footage. Protests erupted across the city not long after the footage was available to the public.
However, Singletary was not given the chance to officially resign on his own terms. Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren forcibly relieved Police Chief Singletary from his position earlier this week and called for a federal investigation into both the RPD and Daniel Prude’s arrest. There has not been a formal announcement as to who will replace Singletary or other command staff who will soon likely be resigning.
Many protestors and police officers alike have harshly criticized Mayor Warren for the move and her handling of the situation as a whole. Warren has admitted that she did not handle the situation correctly when she first became aware of Daniel Prude’s death, but the general public seems not to be accepting the apology. Calls for her removal alongside Singletary and the police involved in Prude’s arrest have rung out from both sides of the conflict.
For more information about this developing story, you can click here to read a full article from USA Today. For continued updates about the overarching issue of police brutality incidents and accusations in Rochester, be sure to visit our blog frequently. As a civil rights law firm with an office right here in Rochester, Horn Wright, LLP is paying close attention to the unfolding situation and what it means for the rights of the people in our community. We also offer our legal representation to anyone who has suffered at the hands of overzealous, overaggressive police officers. Call (855) 465-4622 to learn more.