Rochester police leaders exit
Chief says record distorted in aftermath of suffocation death
Police leaders in Rochester, New York, announced their retirements Tuesday amid nightly protests over the handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude, whose family filed a federal lawsuit alleging a cover-up by law enforcement.
Police Chief La’ron Singletary, Deputy Chief Joseph M. Morabito and a commander retired, while two more leaders gave up command positions. The outgoing chief accused critics of trying to “destroy my character and integrity.”
The change of course for Singletary came after “new information that was brought to light today that I had not previously seen before,” Mayor Lovely Warren said during a video call with members of the City Council. She said she did not ask the chief to resign but did not elaborate.
While the “timing and tenor” of the retirements were difficult, Warren said later at a brief news conference, “I truly believe that we will get through this.”
The announcements came more than five months after the death of Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who died several days after an encounter with police March 23 in New York’s third-largest city. There have been nightly protests in the city since the video’s release Wednesday.
“The members of the Rochester Police Department and the Greater Rochester Community know my reputation and know what I stand for,” Singletary said in a statement. “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.”
Singletary, who spent his entire career in the Rochester Police Department, was appointed chief in April 2019. He will stay on through the end of the month, Warren said.
“This is great news,” said Iman Abid, speaking for Free the People ROC, which has held protests since details of Prude’s death emerged. “It says to the people that people are able to move things and to shape things. The police chief wouldn’t retire if it weren’t for something that he felt he was accountable to.”
But, she said, nightly protests will continue to push other demands, including the resignation of the mayor, defunding and demilitarizing of police, and development of a state law barring police departments from responding to mental health crises.