Local News | Rochester Indymedia (original) (raw)
“Family Trouble”: The 1975 Killing of Denise Hawkins and the Legacy of Deadly Force in the Rochester, NY Police Department
Abstract: This paper examines the lineages of police violence, family trauma, and police reform through a case study of the Rochester police killing of Denise Hawkins in 1975. Michael Leach, a 22-year-old, white police officer, responded to a “family trouble” call involving a domestic dispute between Hawkins and her husband. When the 18-year-old, 100-pound Black woman emerged from the apartment, she held a kitchen knife. Within five seconds, Leach had shot and killed her, later claiming she endangered his life.
Complaint Investigation Committee Legislation (1977)
Submitted by T. Forsyth on Tue, 2022-03-15 15:16
This is the 1977 legislation that established the Complaint Investigation Committee and cemented a financial relationship between the Center for Dispute Settlement (then the Community Dispute Services) and the City of Rochester that was tasked with "administering and selecting the panelists" to sit with two command level Rochester Police Department officers and review police misconduct complaints. CDS was paid 75persessionnottoexceed75 per session not to exceed 75persessionnottoexceed5,000. See the attached PDF for more.
Prelude to the Police Advisory Board
Submitted by T. Forsyth on Mon, 2022-03-07 14:19
Below are selected sources describing the creation of the Police Advisory Board of 1963. The Fairwell case, the raid against Black Muslims case, and the White case pushed Rochester City Council to draft legislation that would establish Rochester's first police oversight mechanism: the Police Advisory Board.