Send comments to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. We edit selections for publication in print, and we don’t publish comments sent to other media. Cuomo, Biden, and 2020 We read now that Governor Cuomo has come out in support of Joe Biden for the […]
Rochester Police Department
Posted inNews & Opinion
City Hall prepares to reform Rochester’s police oversight
For decades, activists have pushed for stronger police oversight. After months of study, City Council is finishing work on legislation that could do that.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Rochester police, schools and public participation
Several meetings of critical importance to Rochester and its residents will be held over the next few weeks. The public should show up.
Posted inNews & Opinion
RPD officer arraigned on assault charge
Rochester police officer Michael Sippel has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge that is based on allegations that he used excessive force in a May incident. Sippel is currently on suspension. Rochester resident Christopher Pate has said that Officers Sippel and Spenser McAvoy stopped and questioned him about a crime they were investigating. […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Feedback 9/26
Send comments to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. We edit selections for publication in print, and we don’t publish comments sent to other media. New translations In her article “Voice Matters,” Rachael Crawford stated that translations of classic literature have been male dominated. There […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Police Accountability Board is essential for public trust
The current process has to change, for the good of the public and the police, and the integrity of the criminal justice system.
Posted inNews & Opinion
City Council releases Police Advisory Board draft proposal; activists cite problems
[UPDATED] City Council is preparing to start public review of draft legislation changing the way Rochester handles complaints about police conduct. The draft legislation calls for the creation of a separate, independent Police Accountability Board with the power to conduct its own investigations into complaints. The draft has been circulated among police-reform activists, the police union, […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
RPD video strengthens calls for more oversight
Will a video from a police officer’s body camera mark the turning point for reforming police oversight in Rochester?
Posted inNews & Opinion
Ciminelli resigning, Simmons to serve as interim RPD chief
Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli is resigning to take a job with the US Drug Enforcement Agency. His last day as chief will be September 15 and Deputy Chief Mark Simmons will fill the post on an interim basis starting September 16. In a press release announcing the changes, Mayor Lovely Warren says she “has strongly […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Activist urges city to release police video
A video showing Rochester police officers’ interaction with a citizen should be released to the public, a long-time police-reform activist said today. The video was taken by a police body camera in early May, when two officers stopped and questioned Rochester resident Christopher Pate, who is African American, during a crime investigation. Pate says that […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
RPD officers, accused of excessive force, suspended
As community activists continue their push for major reform of police oversight in Rochester, Mayor Lovely Warren and Police Chief Michael Ciminelli announced today that two officers have been suspended without pay related to allegations of excessive force. And they have asked Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley to investigate possible criminal misconduct. Rochester resident […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
RPD officers accused of assault
Longtime social justice activist and President of United Christian Leadership Ministry of Western New York, Rev. Lewis Stewart said Christopher Pate was the victim of police brutality that occurred on May 5, 2018 on the corner of Fulton Avenue and Bloss Street. Stewart read from a written statement during a press conference earlier today, as […]
