The Rochester Police Department and city and school district officials thought they found a way to stop young people from gathering to fight — or to watch a fight — in the Liberty Pole area downtown. Changes were made to the busing situation last year to reduce the number of young people downtown at peak times, and it seemed to make a difference.
But the fights have started again. And now there are questions about whether a police officer acted appropriately when he allegedly pepper-sprayed a student following a fight that happened about a week ago.
The incident was recorded by a news team from Channel 13, and the video prompted school board member Van White to write to Police Chief James Sheppard about the officer’s behavior. White called for an investigation.
In a phone interview today, White said Sheppard has responded to his letter, and that he’s satisfied with Sheppard’s promise to review the incident.
“A public vetting will help to restore the public’s confidence in the RPD,” White said. “If the officer did do something wrong, it says something when they stand up and say: ‘We were wrong.’”
But the problem goes much deeper than the officer’s conduct.
At a time when the city and school district are financially strapped, much-needed resources are being diverted to ensure safety on Main Street. And the fights only fuel perceptions among some business owners and visitors that downtown is unsafe at a time when we desperately need more businesses and visitors.
City Council member Adam McFadden, who heads Council’s Public Safety Committee, says sending more police officers to patrol downtown isn’t likely to help. He advocates a return to using school buses instead of RTS buses to transport students, and he says he wants a return to neighborhood schools.
While some people say that the new transit center currently under construction will help solve the problem, McFadden is dubious. The transit center is only a building, he says. Students are fighting inside the schools, he says, why wouldn’t they fight inside the transit center?
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2012.
“Changes were made to the busing situation last year to reduce the number of young people downtown at peak times, and it seemed to make a difference….But the fights have started again. And now there are questions about whether a police officer acted appropriately when he allegedly pepper-sprayed a student following a fight that happened about a week ago….”But the problem goes much deeper than the officer’s conduct.”
Clearly what the “problem ” is is a matter of opinion. For example, is it how to stop young people from congregating at the Liberty Pole? Or is it why do some such gatherings erupt into fights and others pass off peacefully? What is the trigger? And is that trigger pulled intentionally by certain individuals or do these fights break out spontaneously?
As to the officer’s conduct, I submit that that “problem” is every bit as important as the problem generated by gatherings and fights. It does not take much imagination to conclude that a culture of overreaction and incompetence appears to exist within the RPD and that Chief Sheppard has proven that he is unqualified (or even willing) to deal with it.
In three short years we have seen such actions by the RPD as sending in dozens of baton-wielding cops to deal with 100 or so peaceful anti-war protesters marching along Main Street. And we’ve seen Emily Good hauled off to the slammer for daring to film an arrest in progress. And we’ve subsequently seen a half dozen RPD personnel issuing a swam of harassing parking tickets in a vendetta against Ms. Good’s supporters. And we’ve watched the RPD, with Chief Sheppard in the lead, rousting the Washington Square Occupiers in the wee hours of a cold winter’s morning. Finally, last July we saw Sheppard send in a squad of cops to cart off to the jail a large number of peaceful protesters marching along East Avenue.
In a city with a low crime rate in which shootings were a rarity perhaps these arrests could be explained on the grounds that actions of the protesters and other were the most serious events endangering public safety. But in a city with a rising violent crime rate where shootings are common occurrences and in which the police spend their time complaining that they don’t get the public cooperation they need to solve these violent crimes, it seems equally probable that the the Chief is unable to intelligently prioritize his department’s responses , is misallocating scare police resources thus being unable to deal effectively with violent criminals, has to some degree lost control of his personnel’s actions, and is then making excuses to cover his inability to do his job.
Chaim DeLoye made a number of excellent points in his comments concerning this article. With regard to the list of inappropriate behavior on the part of RPD — let’s not forget that numerous officers, including the Chief himself, were recorded (by the City’s own Red Light Cameras) engaging in traffic violations (while operating City-owned vehicles).
With all due fairness to Chief Shepard, lets also not forget that one of the greatest obstacles that he has faced, and continues to face relative to “control of his personnel’s actions” is embodied in the form of Mr. Mike Mazzeo (the RPD Locust Club — union leader— whom at times even puts Ron Evangelsita to shame regarding his ludicrous attempts at defending the indefensible relative to rank and file officer’s inappropriate and sometimes vicious and brutal behavior). What’s so amazing about this is the question as to why Chief Shepard (like numerous other Chiefs before him) won’t just stand up and tell the community straight-out — that the overly-zealous, uncontrolled and sometimes out-of-control, top Union leader does in fact represent a great and powerful obstacle — since it is ONLY the broader, tax-paying community that can help mitigate and control Mazzeo’s excessive power?
It is also important for us to question Ms. Fien’s and Mr. Macaluso’s double-speak in this article. A prime example of this is as follows: “…there are questions about whether a police officer acted appropriately when he allegedly pepper-sprayed a student… The incident was recorded by a news team from Channel 13…” The point is that when we view Channel 13’s recording — it becomes crystal-clear that the term “allegedly” should have been omitted. The police officer DEFINITELY “pepper-sprayed a student” — the latter of whom DEFINITELY was NOT engaged in the fighting, but was in fact walking in the opposite direction of the flash-point at which the chaos was taking place. I understand the need for journalistic facts and integrity, and the so-called principle of being innocent until proven guilty (depending upon who you are) — but in this particular case (unless Ms. Fien and Mr. Macaluso) are suggesting that Channel 13 performed a camera-trick — the proof is in the pudding. Interestingly enough, Channel 13’s video recording, which WAS accessible at the link below — is apparently no longer accessible. Can we say “cover-up”???
http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/roc…
Large Crowd of Students Gather Downtown For Fights
When City Council was debating the bus barn three years ago, I presented an article from a Detroit newspaper which explained that their new award-winning “Rosa Parks Transit Center” had to be shut down, frequently, when fights broke out . School age youth transferred at the new Center. The police couldn’t handle it, and so the terminal was shut down periodically. I can’t think of any good reason why that wouldn’t happen here. The police are stretched thin already: Main Street East and West of the River, the Liberty Pole, MCC. Until our youth are challenged by school and home to take their future into their own hands, and spend their time constructively, any venue where they congregate will be plagued by out of control behavior. Richard Rosen, Mark IV Construction Co.
I absolutely agree w/ McFadden re: Neighborhood Schools (we never should’ve abandoned them in the first place for a multitude of reasons). There is simply NO GOOD REASON for throngs of kids to be bussed downtown and given the opportunity to cause havoc.
“And the fights only fuel perceptions among some business owners and visitors that downtown is unsafe at a time when we desperately need more businesses and visitors.” This point cannot be emphasized enough. Kids, by their very nature, don’t see the bigger picture and how, in fact, they’re actually hurting themselves… by fueling this perception of downtown being unsafe, they’re harming it’s potential to be a place that people might actually want to visit and perhaps even spend some time and/or money. People spending money = Jobs… Jobs that are desperately needed in this city.
Chaim DeLoye said: Clearly what the “problem ” is is a matter of opinion. For example, is it how to stop young people from congregating at the Liberty Pole? Or is it why do some such gatherings erupt into fights and others pass off peacefully? What is the trigger? And is that trigger pulled intentionally by certain individuals or do these fights break out spontaneously?
I can tell you from information I’ve been privy to as an RCSD employee is that some of the reasons these kids fight are straight up stupid. Some fights a planned so they can be recorded and put on YouTube. Others are planned because people are aware that they will be able to meet at this centralized location.
(Male) Students who fight both in school and at a place where police are known to patrol do so in part due to the knowledge that the fight WILL get broken up before anyone is too badly hurt.
Why do some encounters pass peacefully while others do not? Again… pure stupid… kids from rival schools or neighborhoods will say something incendiary, and the “manly” response is not to ignore and walk away. Aggression is seen as the manly response. Girls fight over boys or things they say to or about each other.
The long-term solution has to include not just rigorous enforcement, but also a community where students/kids have a stake in the future and a reason not to get into long-term legal trouble by getting a record. This would include a community where living-wage jobs are available for people with only a high school diploma.
As much as I agree with sending students to schools within their neighborhoods, I don’t understand how it can can happen when a number of students come from nomadic households. A student may live on Genesee St. at the start of the school year but by the end of the school year he/she has had 3 different addresses in 3 different zip codes within the city.
As for dealing with the issues of mass numbers of students downtown and the fights that take place because of it, maybe the district should go back to bussing students back to their neighborhoods on school busses instead of using RTS. I also say that many students fight downtown because they believe they can get away with it. If the district would begin deploying school officials who know the students to the downtown area during these student transitions. The students will be less likely to fight because they can be identified.
Just a couple of suggestions.
Bringing neighborhood schools into this conversation is a knee-jerk reaction that defies rational thought. Our high schools have been choice-based since the 1970s as part of a voluntary desegregation effort (to avoid the court-ordered deseg found in the south). Our elementary schools have been choice-based since 2003 around a zone system. Folks, the kids gathering at the Liberty Pole are high school kids, not elementary school kids. So tell me how reversing our elementary school choice system changes anything? Our high school choice system has evolved into specialized programs. There are no more “comprehensive high schools”. Is it even possible to unravel this system of tailored Regents, IB, AP and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs? We certainly can’t offer everything in every school building.
Willa Powell
Rochester City School Board