ROCHESTER, N.Y. — This holiday weekend may not be a restful one for some leaders of the city of Rochester and Monroe County.
Members of the City Council and the District Attorney’s Office will spend the next few days immersed in separate but very much related issues.
At the heart of both? Excessive force by police.
”This is not going to be ignored,” said Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley. “I’m going to look at this and make sure that a full investigation is made and that justice is ultimately served.”
Doorley is taking the lead in the investigation into the suspension of two Rochester Police officers accused of using excessive force against Christopher Pate in May. Pate says he was beaten, tased and verbally offended during the incident on Fulton Avenue. Police body camera footage apparently backs up his story.
“You know I have looked at the videos but I don’t want to comment on the evidence, as I said I’m actually going a step further by actually commenting that I have the investigation so I’ll leave it at that,” she added.
“We’re basically looking at excessive force cases specifically and I think that’s what the community is really looking for as well too,” says City Council member Willie Lightfoot.
The long-awaited draft of the police accountability board ordinance is in its next phase, sent out, and now in the hands of all city council members for review, Lightfoot confirms.