An unarmed Black man, Daniel Prude died after police officers in Rochester, New York placed a hood over his head and pinned him to the ground during an arrest in late March. Protests and outrage followed the recently released video footage of Prude in custody.
On Tuesday, the entire command leadership of the Rochester police department resigned including Police Chief La’Ron Singletary and two deputies. Another deputy chief and commander were both demoted in the wake of the backlash the department received for its handling Prude’s arrest.
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren informed the city council of the retirements days after New York state Attorney General Letitia James said she would impanel a grand jury to consider the circumstances surrounding Prude’s death.
Singletary had been on the police force for 20 years, according to a news release from the department. He said the events of the past week “are an attempt to destroy my character and integrity.”
“The members of the Rochester Police Department and the Greater Rochester Community know my reputation and know what I stand for,” Singletary, 40, said in his resignation letter. “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.”
Deputy Chief Joseph Morabito and Commander Fabian Rivera also announced their retirement. Two other high-ranking officials — Deputy Chief Mark Simmons and Commander Henry Favor — were demoted to a lower ranking of lieutenant.
Mayor Warren said during a City Council briefing that the “entire Rochester police command staff” has retired and that “there may be a number of others that will decide to leave, as well.” She insisted that Singletary was not asked to resign and that she felt he had given his “very best,” NBC News reported.
The Prude family is accusing the police of engaging in a coverup of the 41-year-old’s death. Prude was taken into custody while was experiencing mental health issues. It was only last week that the seven officers involved were suspended. However, Singletary and Warren denied that the death was covered up, Slate reported.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.
Prude died in the hospital on March 30, a week after officers arrested him. Yet the Rochester Police Department classified his death as a drug overdose. Singletary informed the mayor that Prude had died in the hospital after taking the drug PCP. This is not what the coroner’s report indicated. The report designated Prude’s death a homicide resulting from asphyxiation while he was being held in a prone position. Prude’s family had to fight for five months to get the arrest and coroner’s reports. Police body camera footage shows Prude, who was naked and handcuffed, being held facedown in the street until he stopped breathing.
