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    • Locust Club challenges PAB’s authority to investigate police misconduct
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    Locust Club challenges PAB’s authority to investigate police misconduct

    Online Niel Posted on

    Rochester’s police union is taking the city to court again to determine the scope and power of the Police Accountability Board.

    The Rochester Police Locust Club filed a new lawsuit this month, claiming the PAB lacks the authority to investigate allegations of police misconduct and illegally published the results of 31 cases this fall. The police union said the PAB was acting in breach of a previous court order which stripped the oversight agency of its disciplinary power last year.

    Since that ruling, the PAB has continued its investigations with the understanding that completed cases sent to the Rochester Police Department for review would be considered referrals. The Locust Club claims that the court’s decision completely abolished the investigative power of the PAB.

    Police Accountability Board: PAB publishes police investigation reports, calls for officers to be fired

    “The Locust Club contends that there is clearly a dispute between the parties as to which specific sections of Article 18 of the City Charter have been judicially invalidated and which have survived the decision of the Court of Appeals and that this requires a judicial decision outside the authority PERB or a grievance arbitrator,” the lawsuit states.

    Union officials asked the court to issue an injunction halting the PAB investigations until the court can clarify which sections of the PAB Charter remain in effect. An injunction would cause additional delays for civilian complaints that already remain under investigation by the PAB due to information constraints and other legal challenges.

    PAB did not respond to a request for comment before publication. A city spokesman said the city does not comment on pending litigation.

    Locust Club vs. PAB: Rochester’s fight to define police surveillance

    Rochester voters overwhelmingly approved PAB in 2019 to manage discipline within the Rochester Police Department. His charter included some of the the broadest supervisory powers in the country, including the ability to investigate, compel witnesses and make public its findings on complaints of police misconduct.

    In the same year, the Locust Club sued the city on a provision in the charter that gave the APB exclusive disciplinary power over RPD officers. The police union argued the statute violated the state’s Taylor Act, which requires the city to negotiate disciplinary procedures with the union.

    Several courts, including the state’s highest court – the Court of Appeals – have agreed with the police union and overturned PAB’s disciplinary powers. The chief of police has sole discretion over discipline. The ruling, however, does not explicitly state which sections of the charter are now invalid beyond “portions … relating to police discipline.”

    The Locust Club claims the PAB is no longer authorized to investigate “individual allegations of officer misconduct.”

    PAB clearly disagrees. The watchdog continued its work investigating complaints, though not without other challenges. City officials and PAB investigators continue to clash over questions about access to informationincluding whether PAB can subpoena interviews from police officers. This fall, PAB released redacted case reports from 31 investigations completed against the advice of city attorneys.. (In seeking outside legal advice, the PAB said it had the authority to do so in its charter.)

    Transparency: The city argues that Police Accountability Board reports are not public records. Should it be?

    However, RPD chief David Smith agreed to take the findings of the PAB inquiry as advisory opinions. Earlier this summer, RPD said police supervisors would review any PAB case the department received.

    The police union said it has filed a malpractice charge and labor complaint against the city, alleging PAB violated the union’s collective bargaining agreement by contacting more than 100 officers for interviews and illegally issuing case closure reports.

    — Kayla Canne covers community safety for the Democrat and Chronicle, with a focus on police accountability, government oversight and how people are affected by violence. Follow her on Twitter @kaylacanne and @bykaylacanne on Instagram. Get in touch at [email protected].

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