PAB members request a “firing freeze”, acting manager’s removal
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — More than a dozen workers at the Rochester Police Accountability Board have written a letter to the board of directors of the organization, the Rochester City Council, and the Police Accountability Board Alliance. In the letter, they ask for a “firing freeze” and for Duwaine Bascoe to be removed from his position as acting manager of the PAB.
As a result of recent firings and investigations against PAB leadership, the letter was discussed at the executive session of the PAB meeting that took place the previous Thursday.
The people who signed the letter make the following five requests:
- They want deputy chief of investigations and Basco terminated effective immediately, and to have Associate General Counsel Anthony Durwin named acting manager until the investigation into Executive Director Conor Dwyer Reynolds is finished.
- They also request that all PAB staff members are part of any future decisions related to the executive director position, and that all staff members who were terminated or resigned since the appointment of Bascoe as acting manager be offered reinstatement and they believe those employees were unjustly terminated.
- Lastly, the group wants a “firing freeze” to protect staff from further retaliation from PAB management.
Michael Higgins was not present at the PAB meeting that took place the previous Thursday evening, and board members did not make any comment on his suspension. He is in charge of the board’s policies and supervision, which are within his purview.
According to the board attorney, Higgins was placed on paid suspension. Five months ago, Dwyer Reynolds was subjected to the identical activity that you are seeing now. According to counsel, there have been no further developments regarding that probe.
A member of the Rochester City Council has confirmed that two more board members lost their jobs a month ago.
