Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Second rate reporter says what?

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Come on, man.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

The willow is too close to the house.

Bark louder, little dog.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

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Puzzling Evidence

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This afternoon, immediately before Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and Police Chief LaRon Singletary were to meet with the City Council to talk about the police response to demonstrations, Singletary and the rest of his command staff quit.  Those, like Singletary, who were eligible for retirement filed papers.  The rest resigned their command positions to return back to their previous rank.

Singletary’s retirement announcement contained this statement:

“As a man of integrity, I will not sit idly by while outside entities attempt to destroy my character. The events over the past week are an attempt to destroy my character and integrity,” Singletary said. “The members of the Rochester Police Department and the greater Rochester community know my reputation and know what I stand for. 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.”

Now, the main person who was characterizing or mischaracterizing Singletary’s actions was one Lovely Ann Warren, Mayor.  However, Singletary is by no means clean in all this.  I thought this tweet nailed it:

Anyway, the protesters took a moment to celebrate the resignations/retirements at the PD, and continued their work painting “Black Lives Matter” on the street where Daniel Prude was killed.

Despite Trump’s white panic over 3 guys retiring, we still have 700 cops left.  I think we’ll be about as safe as we ever were.

Reader Interactions

41Comments

  1. 1.

    Calouste

    Are we keeping track somewhere of how many police chiefs have resigned rather than face criticism or even the tiniest budget cut? Rather then, you know, because they took responsibility for cops murdering people.

  3. 3.

    WaterGirl

    Do you consider this to be a victory for the protesters?  A cowardly move by the police command?  A strategic move for the police command in terms of avoiding responsibility?

  5. 5.

    download my app in the app store mistermix

    @WaterGirl: I don’t know. These people are playing one dimensional checkers with a checkerboard that’s missing some pieces, so it’s hard to tell.

  7. 7.

    scott (the other one)

    I will not sit idly by while outside entities attempt to destroy my character.

    One cannot destroy what does not exist.

  8. 8.

    Geeno

    Ah, life in these smaller major cities – like DougJ and MrMix, I am a Rochesterian – which is like being a Rotarian without the glamour.

    Petty places, petty people running them.

  10. 10.

    marduk

    The first night in days the PD didn’t instigate a riot and suddenly all the leadership resigns? Huh. Lost the rank & file is my guess.

  11. 11.

    joel hanes

    I’m guessing that the resigning officers believe themselves indispensible.

    Sometime when you’re feeling important;
    Sometime when your ego ‘s in bloom;
    Sometime when you take it for granted,
    You’re the best qualified in the room:
    Sometime when you feel that your going,
    Would leave an unfillable hole,
    Just follow these simple instructions,
    And see how they humble your soul.

    Take a bucket and fill it with water,
    Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
    Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining,
    Is a measure of how much you’ll be missed.
    You can splash all you wish when you enter,
    You may stir up the water galore,
    But stop, and you’ll find that in no time,
    It looks quite the same as before.

    The moral of this quaint example,
    Is to do just the best that you can,
    Be proud of yourself but remember,
    There’s no indispensable man.
    — Saxon White Kessinger

  12. 12.

    joel hanes

    @WaterGirl:

    always trumps the protesters

    It looks to me as if this particular little flounce out of the room burst of drama is aimed at the mayor, and at the very concept of non-cop control of the police.

  14. 14.

    cain

    Shit y’all, we’re losing entire cities here in Oregon due to the wild fires. It’s nuts out here. It has never been this bad that I can recollect.

    You know the feds aren’t gonna help us because that asshole in the white house doesn’t help blue staters.

  18. 18.

    Brendan in NC

    @Geeno: As a former Rochesterian, I concur. And I’m watching all this from Charlotte, NC – which reminds me a lot of Rachacha.

  22. 22.

    Sebastian

    Cohen just confirmed that Trump wasn’t in the race to win. All he wanted was biz with Putin.

    Also, Russians overpaying for condos. Money laundering.

  24. 24.

    TS (the original)

    @cain:

    He is evil – no other way to describe his actions. I keep thinking about how other presidents have helped in natural disasters. Not just in the US – but worldwide.

  25. 25.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Geeno: Do. Not. Miss. At. All. Not the shitty weather, not the raging racists and corrupt fucks in the surrounding country side that spawned Tim McVeigh.

  28. 28.

    kmax

    Lived a few years in Rochester.  Been gone a long time.  Nice to read some of the news from you folks.  Wish it was something more positive today though.

  29. 29.

    Kent

    @WaterGirl: Do you consider this to be a victory for the protesters? A cowardly move by the police command? A strategic move for the police command in terms of avoiding responsibility?

    I’d consider it a victory to the extent that the Mayor can now appoint a more aggressive reformer who isn’t so tied in with the local union. Like even an outside reformer.

    Whether that happens and has any effect is a different question.

  30. 30.

    Kent

    @cain:There should be a rule that if you retire rather than face the music you dont’ get your pension.

    What does that even mean?  “Face the Music?”

    If the chief is even culpable of any actual crime they can prosecute him even if he is retired.  You just want someone to yell at during press conferences for a few more weeks?

    The more of these old dinosaurs retire, the faster they can be replaced with reformers from outside the local union and such.  We should hope they ALL retire so we can clean house.

  35. 35.

    encephalopath

    Integrity, where “None of the complaints against me were sustained by the review board” = “integrity”

  39. 39.

    The Pale Scot

    Why can’t those pensions be given the same neoliberal treatment private pensions have? Convert them to defined contribution and sell the whole thing off to a private 3rd party contractor. If it’s a good idea for millions of US workers how could the GOP object?

  40. 40.

    The Pale Scot

    And now that they are private citizens civil judgements should be easier, why should the city cover their legal costs?

  41. 41.

    ET

    What this tells me is that that the command staff know they are in for shit, that they deserve it, and are too cowardly to want to be in charge and have to deal with it.  They like to be up in the ranks when they can do what they want and there is no change or consequence, but now they bail.

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