The report compiled by Deputy Mayor Jim Smith from the city’s digital records includes the eight recommendations announced by Mayor Lovely Warren in her news conference. It also includes emails that seem to show Chief La’Ron Singletary, the RPD Command Staff and the city attorneys were concerned at what could happen if video of Daniel Prude being subdued by Rochester police officers were released.
Smith also writes: “The records reveal a culture of insularity, acceptance and, quite frankly, callousness that permeates the Rochester Police Department.” The report says the RPD may also have tried to influence the Medical Examiner’s Office in its report on Prude’s death, which it determined was a homicide.
The report questions why neither the officers nor the responding medical team offered Mr. Prude a blanket, although he was naked on the ground on a snowy night. It says the department has attempted to address these concerns by increasing the diversity of its officers, but says that hasn’t worked.
As for notifying City Hall, Smith reports an email on April 10th from Chief Singletary to Communications Director Justin Roj informing him of Prude’s death and the ME’s ruling. It notes that the mayor “and corporation counsel have been “in the loop” since March 23rd.
On September 3rd, Mayor Warren told a news conference that Chief Singletary withheld critical details of the case from her, reporting it as a drug overdose death. She says she didn’t get a clear view of what happened until she saw the body camera footage on August 4th. The public learned about what happened two weeks ago.