Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli says he and his leadership team are watching hours of video shot at Friday night’s “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations, which ended with 76 arrests and the unusual site of Rochester officers in riot gear. They’re looking at what went right and what went wrong.
Chief Ciminelli says up until now, the city has kept a policy of tolerance towards the demonstrators. Although no permits were issued police have focused on keeping traffic away from the protesters in previous demonstrations and allowed them to march in the streets. Previous demonstrations ended and everyone went home. But this one was different. About 150 protesters returned downtown after dark and sat down across East Avenue and Alexander Street in the East End.
The chief says his officers first began to put on riot helmets when an officer was surrounded outside the Strong Museum late Friday afternoon. The chief says he then ordered riot gear after police began hearing protesters say on Friday night they wanted to be arrested, and talk of throwing things at police.
Ciminelli repeated that he ordered police to clear the East End after the demonstration tied up too much manpower and forced the city to ask suburban police departments, sheriff’s deputies and State Police to fill in in on city 911 calls. The chief says there was no formal arrangement, but area departments all cooperate to keep Monroe County safe.
The city hasn’t yet worked out the cost of the Friday night demonstrations to taxpayers.