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Police commissioners debate MOU with Rochester City Council over who controls officer counts in budget
Summary
At a meeting of the Rochester Police Commission, Commissioner Grama urged renegotiating the 2013 memorandum of understanding with Rochester City Council, arguing the MOU conflicts with city charter sections 24–25 and limits the commission's authority to set the number of sworn officers; the city manager defended the MOU as a clarifying agreement and commissioners debated possible renegotiation steps.
The Rochester Police Commission debated whether to renegotiate a 2013 memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Rochester City Council after Commissioner Grama said the agreement has been treating the commission's police budget "like any other budget," in his view undercutting the commission's charter authority to set the number of sworn officers.
Grama told the commission he wanted the record to show that the department requested six additional officers in the chief's budget and that the commission should formally request renegotiation of the MOU so the commission's position on staffing would be clear. "What they have basically done is say ... we don't care what you said," Grama said, arguing the MOU conflicts with the plain reading of city charter sections 24 and 25.
The city manager, invited to respond, said the MOU was intended to…
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