Rochester’s Police Accountability Board has released a statement saying it’s still a vital organization, following the suspension of its Executive Director, an investigation of its spending practices and a grilling by City Council members this week.
Council has been increasingly concerned about the PAB’s lack of progress in its job of investigating complaints against Rochester police. At a city budget hearing this week, some council members including Willie Lightfoot asked “What do you guys do over there?”
The PAB had said it would investigate up to 500 excessive force complaints against police, release five major reform proposals and hold 60 community meetings in its first year of operation. So far it has held about 20 meetings, investigated no cases and released no reform proposals. The agency says it hopes to finally begin investigating complaints next month once computer software it deems essential to the job is up and running.