Vows to Work with Staff on Agency Improvements
Today, The Rochester Police Accountability Board (PAB) has requested the New York State Attorney General’s Office launch a full investigation into suspended Executive Director, Conor Dwyer Reynolds.
The PAB is concerned that following his suspension in May, Reynolds has interfered with the City’s investigation against him by holding alleged meetings with current and former PAB staff, members of the Police Accountability Board Alliance, and others including a meeting at his home this past weekend with former staff and other parties.
“Collusion and interference with a governmental investigation is a crime. It’s beyond time for this agency to address this matter head-on and to finally bring these known issues out publicly,” states Acting Manager, Duwaine Bascoe. Bascoe says that the PAB is more than ready to move beyond the turmoil that has been plaguing it and a State investigation into the matter is necessary.
“When I took over as acting manager, our former chair had stepped down, our executive director was under investigation and the agency was in turmoil. We were able to open our doors but we still needed to think about the long-term goals of the PAB,” says Bascoe.
Those long-term goals include a plan to address internal challenges at the agency, by undergoing a restructuring process. Part of that process has included the right-fitting of agency staff and roles.
“PAB is no different from any other agency that is under new leadership. Our goal is to place the right people in the right places in order to be a more efficient and effective agency. Unfortunately, during this process, we discovered that there were people who were not aligned with the agency’s goals and we had to take some necessary steps,” Said Bascoe.
PAB leadership asserts that all personnel decisions made to date have followed the City of Rochester’s policies and were also vetted by the City’s Human Resources and Law Departments.
To address internal concerns, Bascoe says that the PAB plans to:
- work with a consultant to assist in the development of a three-year strategic plan that is inclusive of staff and Rochester residents.
- hire a mediator to address internal agency issues
- create an internal task force made up of five (5) core staff members, a Board member, and one senior staff person who will work together to investigate and address issues around organizational culture
The PAB has also implemented lateral transfers and promotions among staff and changes to its organizational chart.
In a move to address staffing vacancies, PAB leadership has been in communication with City Council regarding the back-filling of roles with qualified candidates
Bascoe is encouraging Council to move quickly to approve requests to immediately fill these vacancies.
“We have a duty to this community to keep going. We need these roles filled quickly and we have qualified people who want to fill them. We plan to continue to do the people’s work and Council’s quick approval will ensure that this happens,” says Bascoe.
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For more information about this press release, please contact PAB Deputy Chief of Public Information Vanessa J. Cheeks at [email protected].
