ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Rochester City Council voted 5-3 to approve the city’s police reform plan Monday.
The three councilmembers who voted “no” included Mary Lupien, Mitch Gruber and current mayoral candidate Malik Evans. Councilmember Jose Peo did not cast a vote on the measure.
The vote comes with less than week before the April 1 deadline for all law enforcement agencies in New York state to submit their community-approved police form plans, due to an executive order by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last summer.
Executive Order 203 created the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative, which requires all New York local police departments and governments to collaborate with their communities on a specific plan for change.
The 2021 agenda states, “Localities are required to engage their community and ratify a plan by April 1, 2021. Failure to complete this process will result in loss of State funding.”
City Council released its list of proposed changes to Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren’s draft plan Friday night.
The comprehensive 76-page document (below) addresses a number of police-community aspects, including, but not limited to:
- RPD organizational structure and staffing
- RPD budget summary
- Locations of police facilities
- Response to mental health calls
- Crowd control
- Police in schools
- Community engagement
- Strategies to reduce racism
- Officer training
- Data, technology, and transparency
- Body worn cameras
- Accountability
- Recruitment