The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled Friday that Rochester’s new Police Accountability Board has no power to discipline city police officers.
The judge who made the original ruling called the PAB law “invalid, void and unenforceable.” The court ruled that police discipline is governed by the city’s collective bargaining agreement and the contract it reached with the patrol officer’s union, the Locust Club.
It was the Locust Club that brought the suit which stripped the PAB of its enforcement powers. The Rochester City Council appealed the ruling.
Rochester is still moving forward with the Police Accountability Board, budgeting it for $5 million in operating funds in the upcoming city budget which will be voted on Tuesday.