The Rochester Police Accountability Board has finalized its guidelines for disciplining officers as it moves to complete its first investigation into police misconduct later this month.
The guidelines are not expected to be put to use for the foreseeable future, however.
The courts have not granted the PAB the power to discipline officers, and the Rochester Police Department has no obligation to follow the PAB’s guidelines. In cases of proven misconduct, the PAB recommends a punishment, and the RPD has 30 days to decide whether to follow the recommendation. Drawing up the guidelines, which the PAB calls a “disciplinary matrix,” was a major policy goal of the agency from its inception.
Board Chair Larry Knox said the matrix represents a crucial step in the PAB becoming an effective police oversight agency but acknowledged that enforcing it relies on the cooperation of the chief.
“We’re not doing formal recommendations to the chief, because we don’t have disciplinary power yet,” Knox said in a phone call. “So, we’re working on a (memorandum of understanding) with the (police) chief for him to get back to us with what I think of that recommendation. Still, it’s his decision, because the disciplinary power isn’t there.”
The RPD already has its own disciplinary matrix as part of its collective bargaining agreement with the city.
That document divides officer misconduct into three categories, each with escalating degrees of punishment, from short-term suspensions to termination. It also allows for officers to be disciplined with a letter of reprimand and pay up to $100 for damaged property. The PAB’s disciplinary matrix differs in that it outlines five categories of misconduct. The matrix could also compel officers guilty of wrongdoing to pay remuneration to the victim or the community, to perform public service, or perform a combination of the two while issuing an apology called a “restorative circle.”
Mike Mazzeo, president of the Rochester Police Locust Club, the police union representing sworn officers, said the RPD utilizing the PAB’s matrix would put the department in direct conflict with its agreement with the union.
“They would be making a unilateral action on a matter that’s in our contract, and (the Public Employee Relations Board) would rule against that,” Mazzeo said. “They could seek to try and negotiate it, but we would not have to do that.”
In January, the Locust Club and the RPD agreed to a new labor contract. Revising the matrix was not explored by either side in any significant way, Mazzeo said.
An RPD spokesperson declined to comment on the PAB’s guidelines, noting that the department already has its own.
Knox, a longtime labor organizer with 1199 SEIU, recognized the potential labor issues at play. He described the PAB’s disciplinary matrix as “informal.”
“Right now, until we get disciplinary power from the state, it would just be a review off our matrix and a recommendation to him (the chief),” Knox said. “Which is why it’s a lot more informal than it would be once we formalize things.”
The PAB’s disciplinary powers were challenged by the Locust Club and struck down by an Appellate Court ruling in 2021. A second appeal by the PAB is still pending.
Mazzeo cast the moves by the PAB to issue disciplinary guidelines as fruitless.
“Right now, the law of the land is the appellate decision, so why are we wasting money? Why are we wasting time and effort?” Mazzeo said.
The PAB is expected to reveal the findings of its first completed investigations into alleged police misconduct at its next monthly meeting, scheduled for May 18.
