A federal class action lawsuit has been filed against the Rochester Police Department, charging the RPD with what it calls a “years-long, unchecked practice of using unconstitutional excessive force disproportionately against people of color.”
The suit is being brought by groups including Free the People ROC, the National Lawyers Guild Rochester, and ten individual plaintiffs including Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart, who says she was a victim of indiscriminate police violence during a protest last year. Barnhart and City Council Member Mary Lupien were pepper sprayed during a protest near the Public Safety Building last year.
The suit accuses the city and the RPD of violating the Federal Civil Rights Act in various ways, and it seeks broad relief, including an independent federal monitor to reform the RPD’s policies and practices.
The plaintiffs are represented by Roth & Roth, LLP; Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP; BakerHostetler; Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin LLP; and Joshua S. Moskovitz, Esq.
Plaintiff Winona Miller said in a press release “The City needs to stop aiding in the discrimination, murder, and abuse of Black and brown folks. There has been enough talk about reform, the time to take action is now.”
In response, the City of Rochester said in a statement that it welcomes a review by the United States Department of Justice. Mayor Lovely Warren said the city has previously called on them to investigate possible civil rights violations.
Warren says the city has also adopted an Executive Order to reform and reinvent policing in Rochester, including the ability to fire officers for cause, requiring newly-hired officers to live in the city and other changes to limit use of force by officers.
The 96-page complaint references the death of Daniel Prude and the police shooting of Tyshon Jones outside the Open Door Mission, plus the pepper spraying of a 9-year-old girl. It says these add up with historical events going back decades to a pattern of excessive use of force on people of color in Rochester.
The suit says the RPD then responded to people demonstrating for change with violent tactics that severely injured some protesters. It says the city has resisted calls for reform for many years going back to 1975.
A federal class action lawsuit has been filed against the Rochester Police Department, charging the RPD with what it calls a “years-long, unchecked practice of using unconstitutional excessive force disproportionately against people of color.”
The suit is being brought by groups including Free the People ROC, the National Lawyers Guild Rochester, and ten individual plaintiffs including Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart, who says she was a victim of indiscriminate police violence during a protest last year. Barnhart and City Council Member Mary Lupien were pepper sprayed during a protest near the Public Safety Building last year.
The suit accuses the city and the RPD of violating the Federal Civil Rights Act in various ways, and it seeks broad relief, including an independent federal monitor to reform the RPD’s policies and practices.
The plaintiffs are represented by Roth & Roth, LLP; Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP; BakerHostetler; Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin LLP; and Joshua S. Moskovitz, Esq.
Plaintiff Winona Miller said in a press release “The City needs to stop aiding in the discrimination, murder, and abuse of Black and brown folks. There has been enough talk about reform, the time to take action is now.”
The 96-page complaint references the death of Daniel Prude and the police shooting of Tyshon Jones outside the Open Door Mission, plus the pepper spraying of a 9-year-old girl. It says these add up with historical events going back decades to a pattern of excessive use of force on people of color in Rochester.
The suit says the RPD then responded to people demonstrating for change with violent tactics that severely injured some protesters. It says the city has resisted calls for reform for many years going back to 1975.