The most tangible thing to come out of the review of the way complaints against the police are handled was the addition of a community advocate to the Civilian Review Board. The advocate’s purpose is to help people through a process that can be emotional, complicated, and lengthy.
Members of City Council got a one-year update on the advocate’s work at a meeting last week. And Council members raised additional questions and concerns about the complaint process.
Thirty-eight percent of people who filed a complaint against the police in 2013 requested the advocate’s assistance, says a summary completed by the Center for Dispute Settlement, which runs the Civilian Review Board. The advocate also fielded 96 informal inquiries — 19 of which developed into formal complaints.
It’s clear that CDS sees the advocate as integral to its goal to improve police-community relations. To that end, the part-time advocate gave 34 public outreach presentations in 2013.
The advocate will continue her outreach activities in 2014, the report says, with an emphasis on youth initiatives.
Council members asked CDS representatives for proof that the advocate is helping. And some at the meeting said that awareness of the advocate is lacking.
It’s clear, too, that many Council members believe the process to resolve complaints still takes too long — on average, four to six months.
“It seems like there’s a casualness to getting these things resolved,” said City Council President Loretta Scott.
This is a corrected version of this story.
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2014.
I think the primary problem with the RPD is lack of Direction. Somewhere along the line they stopped serving the Community and started serving their Friends and Family or they just sit around and wait to be told what to do. Many officers I have come in contact with seem to be more concerned with the Social aspects of thier Jobs then Law Enforcement. It is hard for some kid from Penfield to empathize with the circumstances of the folks they serve. In fact service is not a tenet of the RPD. Most of the Police I have had contact with are not from the City and have very little regard for the Communities they serve.
However well policing is done, there will be complaints. I’m not sure what the role of the civilian review board is – any determination on complaints surely must be made by management – but it’s good to see that the city anticipates complaints, takes them seriously, and has a process to shepherd them along which includes both civilians and an advocate for the complainant.
Yes, the disconnect between many neighborhoods and the police is pronounced. In core city neighborhoods, a prevailing attitude is to not talk to or cooperate with police under any circumstance. This is the unfortunate “no snitching” ethos of black urban culture, and is a main reason why crimes on urban minorities are solved less frequently than others.
RPD makes concerted efforts to recruit women, minorities, and city residents to the police ranks. Lately there has been some success, but overall the force remains largely white, suburbanite. This is because through the years, the city has had to select officers from the qualified applicant pool. City people often haven’t been interested in the job, or haven’t pursued its qualifications.
I agree that a kid from Penfield may not be best able to empathize with realities of city life, but “diversity” is a two-way street. As RPD does its best to hire minorities, city residents need to be willing/able to interact with white cops too.
I agree that Rochester could be better policed, and I think improved management along with an increased investment could help. If policing improvements are made, I doubt they will be popular. Much of the city operates under a relaxed, expanded set of behavior norms that just don’t jive with the law.