Top police leaders in Rochester, New York, announced their retirements Tuesday amid nightly protests over the handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude, whose family filed a federal lawsuit alleging a cover-up by law enforcement.
Police Chief La’Ron Singletary, Deputy Chief Joseph M. Morabito and a commander retired, while two more leaders gave up command positions. The outgoing chief accused critics of trying to “destroy my character and integrity.”
The abrupt change of course for Singletary, 40, came after “new information that was brought to light today that I had not previously seen before,” Mayor Lovely Warren said during a video call with members of the City Council. She said she did not ask the chief to resign but otherwise did not elaborate.
While the “timing and tenor” of the retirements were difficult, Warren said later at a brief news conference, “I truly believe that we will get through this.”
The sudden announcements came more than five months after the death of Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who died several days after an encounter with police March 23 in New York’s third-largest city. There have been nightly protests in the city since the video’s release Wednesday.