This afternoon, immediately before Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and Police Chief LaRon Singletary were to meet with the City Council to talk about the police response to demonstrations, Singletary and the rest of his command staff quit. Those, like Singletary, who were eligible for retirement filed papers. The rest resigned their command positions to return back to their previous rank.
Singletary’s retirement announcement contained this statement:
“As a man of integrity, I will not sit idly by while outside entities attempt to destroy my character. The events over the past week are an attempt to destroy my character and integrity,” Singletary said. “The members of the Rochester Police Department and the greater Rochester community know my reputation and know what I stand for. The mischaracterization and the politicization of the actions that I took after being informed of Mr. Prude’s death is not based on facts, and is not what I stand for.”
Now, the main person who was characterizing or mischaracterizing Singletary’s actions was one Lovely Ann Warren, Mayor. However, Singletary is by no means clean in all this. I thought this tweet nailed it:
NOTE FOR OUT-OF-TOWNERS: The mayor and the chief have been throwing each other under every available bus throughout this entire debacle, so this surprise resignation is both entirely in character and hilariously petty https://t.co/JPHtfDH1Xv
— Jack Feerick (@JackFeerick) September 8, 2020
Anyway, the protesters took a moment to celebrate the resignations/retirements at the PD, and continued their work painting “Black Lives Matter” on the street where Daniel Prude was killed.
Painting BLM on Jefferson Ave where Daniel Prude was killed in RPD custody @roccitynews @jamesbrowntv @maxrocphoto pic.twitter.com/PgDWADEK6h
— WXXI News (@WXXINews) September 9, 2020
Despite Trump’s white panic over 3 guys retiring, we still have 700 cops left. I think we’ll be about as safe as we ever were.
Calouste
Are we keeping track somewhere of how many police chiefs have resigned rather than face criticism or even the tiniest budget cut? Rather then, you know, because they took responsibility for cops murdering people.
feebog
As the venerable E.F. Goldman would observe, “fuck ‘em”.
WaterGirl
Do you consider this to be a victory for the protesters? A cowardly move by the police command? A strategic move for the police command in terms of avoiding responsibility?
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@WaterGirl: ¿Por qué no los tres?
download my app in the app store mistermix
@WaterGirl: I don’t know. These people are playing one dimensional checkers with a checkerboard that’s missing some pieces, so it’s hard to tell.
WaterGirl
@download my app in the app store mistermix: I’d say they think they are playing War. The first card game a lot of kids learn, and the police think their card, no matter what it is, always trumps the protesters.
scott (the other one)
One cannot destroy what does not exist.
Geeno
Ah, life in these smaller major cities – like DougJ and MrMix, I am a Rochesterian – which is like being a Rotarian without the glamour.
Petty places, petty people running them.
Barbara
@scott (the other one): I won’t stand idly by — I’ll sit idly by at home instead.
marduk
The first night in days the PD didn’t instigate a riot and suddenly all the leadership resigns? Huh. Lost the rank & file is my guess.
joel hanes
I’m guessing that the resigning officers believe themselves indispensible.
joel hanes
@WaterGirl:
always trumps the protesters
It looks to me as if this particular little flounce out of the room burst of drama is aimed at the mayor, and at the very concept of non-cop control of the police.
trollhattan
@download my app in the app store mistermix:
“I will shoot this fucking checker board if you do not give me my budget, plus the usual 5% kicker!”
cain
Shit y’all, we’re losing entire cities here in Oregon due to the wild fires. It’s nuts out here. It has never been this bad that I can recollect.
You know the feds aren’t gonna help us because that asshole in the white house doesn’t help blue staters.
cain
@Calouste:
There should be a rule that if you retire rather than face the music you dont’ get your pension.
Aleta
What a picture. Half Dome. (at SFGate)
joel hanes
@cain:
I’m going to hate 2020 for the rest of my life.
Brendan in NC
@Geeno: As a former Rochesterian, I concur. And I’m watching all this from Charlotte, NC – which reminds me a lot of Rachacha.
WaterGirl
@joel hanes: I suspect you are right, but I don’t see that it hurts the mayor at all.
maybe they can all resign in waves, and get some good police.
edit: really enjoyed the poem.
HumboldtBlue
Speaking of protests and riots and NYC being a hellscape, here’s an actual Ney Yorker giving a report from the terror on the ground.
Be warned, there is Big Gay Ice Cream.
WaterGirl
@Brendan in NC: Are you Brendan from BooMan’s blog?
Sebastian
Cohen just confirmed that Trump wasn’t in the race to win. All he wanted was biz with Putin.
Also, Russians overpaying for condos. Money laundering.
WaterGirl
@HumboldtBlue: This article? It should come with a warning. A serious warning.
Police shoot 13-year-old boy with autism several times after mother calls for help
I did not see Big Gay Ice cream.
TS (the original)
@cain:
He is evil – no other way to describe his actions. I keep thinking about how other presidents have helped in natural disasters. Not just in the US – but worldwide.
A Ghost to Most
@Geeno: Do. Not. Miss. At. All. Not the shitty weather, not the raging racists and corrupt fucks in the surrounding country side that spawned Tim McVeigh.
HumboldtBlue
@WaterGirl:
Crap here’s Big Gay Ice Cream.
That sad story I linked to in a thread below,
Anotherlurker
kmax
Lived a few years in Rochester. Been gone a long time. Nice to read some of the news from you folks. Wish it was something more positive today though.
Kent
I’d consider it a victory to the extent that the Mayor can now appoint a more aggressive reformer who isn’t so tied in with the local union. Like even an outside reformer.
Whether that happens and has any effect is a different question.
Kent
What does that even mean? “Face the Music?”
If the chief is even culpable of any actual crime they can prosecute him even if he is retired. You just want someone to yell at during press conferences for a few more weeks?
The more of these old dinosaurs retire, the faster they can be replaced with reformers from outside the local union and such. We should hope they ALL retire so we can clean house.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@cain: Yep – it’s a frightening situation. The smoke is intense! Stay safe.
Brendan in NC
@WaterGirl: Sorry , just saw this. Was a lurker on the GOS, and Booman, but haven’t been on there in ages.
WaterGirl
@Brendan in NC: I haven’t been on BooMan in a couple of years, but when I saw “Brendan” I wondered if you were the same one. But if you only lurked, probably not!
Villago Delenda Est
I’ve got news for this assclown. His reputation is in tatters.
encephalopath
Integrity, where “None of the complaints against me were sustained by the review board” = “integrity”
robmassing
45: “November 3rd. We can fix it!”
But not until then?
BigJimSlade
@joel hanes: Yes, except I hope it ends well.
BigJimSlade
@download my app in the app store mistermix: “Puzzling Evidence” – yet another very fine music quote title!
The Pale Scot
Why can’t those pensions be given the same neoliberal treatment private pensions have? Convert them to defined contribution and sell the whole thing off to a private 3rd party contractor. If it’s a good idea for millions of US workers how could the GOP object?
The Pale Scot
And now that they are private citizens civil judgements should be easier, why should the city cover their legal costs?
ET
What this tells me is that that the command staff know they are in for shit, that they deserve it, and are too cowardly to want to be in charge and have to deal with it. They like to be up in the ranks when they can do what they want and there is no change or consequence, but now they bail.