Rochester Police Locust Club

A Union of Professional Police Officers proudly representing the rank and file men and women of the Rochester (NY) Police Department. Est. 1904.

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

Please join the Association of Rochester Police and Area Law Enforcement Retirees (ARPALER) at the Locust Club tomorrow (Weds. 5/20) at Noon for a ceremony remembering law enforcement officers who have passed over the last year. The public is welcome.

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

We are aware of this ongoing incident that has resulted in 2 Syracuse Police officers being shot.
Please keep these men & women in your prayers today.

[Nick Sortor @nicksortor]

BREAKING: Two Syracuse police officers have been SHOT with a third injured after a suspect opened fire on them

He's now BARRICADED himself in the apartment complex, and a SWAT operation is underway

The officers are in STABLE condition, per the chief

Pray for these heroes 🙏🏻

Officers were originally called to the scene amid reports of a man wielding a machete, possibly injuring a dog with it.

No update on the dog, unfortunately 😕

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

Rochester City Council unanimously approved up to $235,000 in funding for additional legal fees, in order to appeal the recent decision regarding the Police Accountability Board.

Another loss. Another appeal. More funding.

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

1. "Declined to restore the board's investigative powers"
False. Courts confirmed that PAB never had investigative powers.

2. "75% of the citizens of Rochester voted for "
False. 19,781 people voted for PAB. Roch. population (18+) in 2020 was 171,598.
19,781 ÷ 171,598 = 11%

[13WHAM @13WHAM]

Advocates spoke to Rochester City Council in support of the city’s Police Accountability Board amid concerns over its future funding and authority. The group is urging the city to maintain current funding and staffing levels.

"The PAB was something that 75% of the citizens of Rochester voted for."

https://t.co/eFyFLfABH8

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

@IrondequoitPD That sounded low to me. Looks like a simple slip of the finger.

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

Presented without comment.

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

Credit to Tom Kowalski from WHEC channel 10 for the story, and Bob Lonsberry from WHAM 1180 for the picture.

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

We mentioned in a post on 4/3/26 that "their 'investigations' are without merit and laughably biased."

Here is an explanation of the poor quality of work.

The City is currently working on the budget for next fiscal year. Let's see how much of your money they will allocate.

[Bob Lonsberry @BobLonsberry]

Rochester Police Department refutes misleading information released by the Police Accountability Board

"Good Morning Everyone,

I’m continually getting asked for comment about the Police Accountability Board’s (PAB) most recent report.  Although the Rochester Police Department (RPD) has not been sent the PAB’s most recent report titled “Policing and Community Surveillance: Your Right to Privacy.  A Proposal for Change”, we feel the need to respond to multiple aspects of this non-collaborative, misleading report.

Unfortunately misleading has become a common theme with the PAB.  As recently as two weeks ago, we were again subjected to the quote “Seventy-five percent of our community in 2019 said we need a police accountability board and an independent oversight entity.”  A quick check of elections results showed that the PAB resolution passed with 19,781 votes, less than 10 percent of the 2020 census population of 211,328.

This current report is no exception to being filled with misleading and missing information.

The Body Worn Camera (BWC) program began in 2014 as a joint venture between the RPD, Mayor Lovely Warren, the Rochester Police Locust Club, and the Rochester City Council.  The BWC program was initiated, in part, due to public demand for transparency based upon both local and nation level incidents.  Left out of the PAB report, is that our BWC program is monitored in partnership with the Community Justice Advisory Board, run by the United Christian Leadership Ministry.  The program has constant civilian/community oversite, which includes a publicly available dashboard, a first in the nation.

The PAB report also spends a significant amount of time correlating Blue Light Camera (BLC) program to population data and census tracts.  Unfortunately, their correlations of race based camera placement is flawed.  The initial 50 cameras, placed in 2008, were deployed based upon long-term violence hotspots.  Since then, the approximately 100 more cameras were placed based on persistent hotspots of violence crime, locations that aid in the investigation of violent crime (bridges, transportation bottlenecks, etc.), and community requests.  The crime maps and correlations in the PAB report are not applicable to the placement of BLCs and is, again, misleading.  The PAB report does not indicate what is defined as “crime data”, but it is clearly not exclusive to violent crime.  From what we can piece together, it appears to be using Uniformed Crime Reporting Part 1 crime standards.  What is not mentioned in the report is that property crimes account for roughly 85 percent of Part 1 crime during the 2023-2025 time-period cited, which drastically skew the PAB analysis.  While larcenies and other property crimes can be a frustrating and devastating experience for victims, our top priority remains violent crime.  One should note, shooting incidents decreased from 248 to 146 and homicides decreased 58 to 36 during the time period cited (2023-2025).

Within the PAB’s focus on census track data, they fail to properly account for mobility when discussing number of people “surveilled” by the camera system.  The cameras are stationary and do not just affect residents, making residential/census data inapplicable.  Center City for example is excluded by PAB due to the relatively low residential rate of around 5,000.  The report fails to mention that census data also shows the daytime population of downtown to be approximately 36,000 people.  Mobility of residents and visitors is not just specific to downtown, but city wide, and not accounted for.  Additionally, the PAB report claims to exclude three population tracts due to low density of population, yet the map only shows two.

Page 13 of the PAB report discusses Kingfish Cellular Transceivers, also known as Stingray devices, and uses the date they received a response from our PAB Liaison of February 2025 with some sort of relevancy.  That is simply when their question was asked and answered.  What is left out of the report is that the RPD has not possessed this technology in over 10 years.  Why is a controversial technology, not possessed by RPD in over 10 years, even mentioned in the report? Much less associated with a date from last year.

Page 8 even has a graphic of an Axon Body Camera.  The RPD has never contracted or used Axon BWCs; the RPD uses i-Pro cameras.

RPD’s Office of Business Intelligence (OBI) is currently developing Privacy Impact Assessments for our surveillance technology, an initiative that aligns with the PAB’s recommendations. This work is focused on both immediate implementation and the establishment of a standardized framework to govern future assessments.

The Rochester Police Department remains committed to protecting our community here in the City of Rochester, while providing transparency of our operations.  In the last several years, both BWC and BLC systems have provided an immense amount of transparent data to the public.  Our FOIL unit typically processes about 900 requests a year relating to body-worn camera footage alone.  Public releases of BWC of BLC footage of high profile incidents has been instrumental in the RPD maintaining transparency and the trust of our community.

Gregory Bello

Captain"

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

RPD currently has 123 vacancies.
That number has increased for 6 consecutive years.

The number of people who take the Civil service test has declined about 90%.

We are still going in the wrong direction.

What's the definition of insanity again?

[News10NBC @news10nbc]

ICYMI: Tonight is the deadline to signup to take the exam to become a police officer with RPD. News10NBC spoke with Sgt. Justin Collins to talk about recruitment efforts. https://t.co/hlvPQ9aLHX

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

2/2:
The community access was questioned, and has been temporarily suspended for further review.
We are hopeful that this violent killer is not granted freedom.

Do NYS laws make you feel safe?

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

1/2:
Nathaniel Jean-Pierre III brutally murdered a resident of the House of Mercy w/ machete in 2022.
He was found mentally unfit for trial, and sent to Roch Psych center.
He was recently granted permission for community access, meaning temporary release.

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

@rachbarnhart According to PAB, that would be bad.
https://t.co/mMZdCEP6ZM

[13WHAM @13WHAM]

Rochester's Police Accountability Board presented a new report examining how policing technology is being used around the city.

"We are over surveilled, which has led to over policing, over mass incarceration, over punishment and our communities are in crisis."

https://t.co/DV2rje88DE

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

PAB didn't lose the authority.
PAB never had the authority.

A series of legal rulings have continuously affirmed that.

Not to mention, their 'investigations' are without merit and laughably biased.

[News 8 WROC @News_8]

Rochester's Police Accountability Board is now weighing its next steps after losing the authority to investigate police misconduct.
https://t.co/dBR4q1TygV

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

We need to issue a correction, as our last post has inaccurate info.

We neglected to add in the cost of healthcare for the Police Accountability Board. So the amount spent on PAB was actually much higher.

We sincerely apologize.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

Police Accountability Board spending:
2020-21: $70k (actual)
21-22: $2.6 million (act.)
22-23: $2.6 mil (act.)
23-24: $2.6 mil (act.)
24-25: $3.6 mil (amended)*
25-36: $3.3 mil (proposed)*

Total: $14,846,568.00
+ legal fees

*For 24-25 & 25-26: actual amounts not yet available.

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

Pleased w/ decision by the Appellate Division regarding the lack of disciplinary & investigative authority of the PAB. This was inevitable, as the PAB was exceeding their legal authority and violating our members' rights. This decision should be received by the City with humility

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

A Locust Club member was shot in the line of duty tonight.
The injury is non life threatening.

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

PAB also says there is "over mass incarceration."
NYS prison population is down 50% since 2000.

https://t.co/EKiaf8tlCB

Keep up the great work, PAB. 👍
(2/2)

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

Politicians made our officers start wearing body cameras (BWC) a decade ago.
The cameras show that our officers do great work.
Now PAB says that BWC and blue light cameras contribute to the community being "over-surveilled."

Ok, sure. (1/2)

[13WHAM @13WHAM]

Rochester's Police Accountability Board presented a new report examining how policing technology is being used around the city.

"We are over surveilled, which has led to over policing, over mass incarceration, over punishment and our communities are in crisis."

https://t.co/DV2rje88DE

[Rochester Police Locust Club @ROCLocustClub]

Some City Council members have poor attendance.

Other City Council members proposed an attendance policy.

Members with poor attendance were then upset that decisions would be made without them.

No attendance policy implemented.

But sure, PAB.
https://t.co/7DD6ifOf4X