Thread by @WillCleveland13

Starting a new thread for the second portion of Singletary's questioning. Follow along here:

Singletary said he would inform the mayor of all homicides, typically via text. Sometimes, via email. Text was the preferred method of communication. That's where she would be informed of significant events.

the mayor would sometimes reach out to him if she viewed a viral video. or she would ask singletary to look into incidents.

but generally, they communicated via text.

sometimes, he would refer event to her verbally. but it would vary due to the time of day

prude case, singletary said the conversations were via zoom. but no briefing was done via email.

celli: why didn't you provide a written record of what happened?

singletary: there was no record ever requested. if something needed to be clarified, she would've told me to do so

there were never any conversations saying that this shouldn't be put in writing, singletary says.

it was my responsibility to be in command, singletary said. he did relinquish command for a brief period of time (probably due to vacation or something similar), but it was his job to report significant events to the mayor.

the mayor never told singletary to not address her directly, celli asks.

singletary said he would talk to other members of the administration. but he generally talked directly to warren.

significant events included homicides. singletary would get info from the deputy chief of operations. again, mostly relayed via text. (seems to leave a magical lack of a paper trail.)

singletary would then contact warren, but typically not if it was after 11 p.m.

warren would then ask for the next of kin contact information. that was supplied via email, singletary said. urgent matters weren't communicated via email, he said. those messages were sent via text.

on april 10, singletary learned the medical examiner's officer ruled mr. prude's death was a homicide.

and then singletary said he sent next of kin information for mr. prude to council vp lightfoot. but this wasn't until after sept. 2 when the death became public.

singletary said he had a practice of alerting warren with family information after a homicide. he didn't, however, do that in the case of mr. prude. so she never reached out to prude's family.

May 11 email from Singletary to Warren outlines another incident. Singletary said Warren didn’t ask for an email. But there were no rules dictating how they communicated.

in this incident, warren saw something on facebook and wanted information from singletary. she asked singletary to look into it.

Here’s another email between Singletary and Lightfoot about the May incident. Celli seems to be trying to establish inconsistencies in how Singletary communicated with City Council and Warren.

All of the discussion in this thread is occurring via email, not text.

Singletary said Warren established certain protocols for who conversations were to go through, including council vp Lightfoot, head of the public safety committee.

there were situations where lightfoot would ask singletary to look into incidents, come to singletary with questions, and seek clarification or information.

"this was a fluid process throughout," singletary says.

initially out of the respect for the council, we would respond back, until they became "burdensome," he adds.

doesn't specify any incidents where this was the case.

prior to sept. 2, 2020, did you ever talk to lightfoot about how he would be notified about significant matters or incidents? celli asks.

singletary: no, there were no formal conversations.

would appear celli might have some info on lupien and lightfoot. but he doesn't press any more.

decides to move on.

Text message now on screen from April 3, referencing forthcoming Prude lawsuit. But Singletary won’t say who it came from. Without identifying information, he can’t comment, he says.

there is more video of the prude incident that was shared publicly, singletary says.

celli asks if the public should've been alerted here.

singletary: no, because several videos went viral and we didn't hold press conferences.

celli: was it the practice of the department to comment on incidents prior to being asked by the public or media?

singletary: in some cases, we were proactive. cites bay and goodman incident where video went viral.

there was a mental health arrest and a civilian was arrested

singletary ultimately dropped the charges against the gentleman who shot the video.

democratandchronicle.com/story/news/202…

Nightly violence summary email now shown — generally shootings and homicides and other violent incidents.

celli: would mr. prude appear on these summaries?

singletary: no.

information for these reports is generated by the monroe crime analysis center. there are criteria here.

singletary: it's not surprising mr. prude isn't on the daily report.

Email now shown from April 6, where Prude bodycam footage was given to the Rochester Police Locust Club.

The email contains information about Lt. Geoff Wiater, Vice President of the union

Email between city lawyer and Singletary about preservation, some redacted. This is from April 3.

“We knew this was coming. No surprise,” former deputy chief mark simmons to singletary.

The request is to preserve documents and evidence for the future of potential lawsuits.

Singletary texted city corporation counsel Tim curtin about the matter.

We didn’t know the cause of death at this point, Singletary said, but we knew it was a possibility.

our investigations were still going forward, internally, singletary says. things were moving forward, just like they would in any other case.

celli: in early april 2020, did you learn about a FOIL request filed by prude family attorneys?

singletary: yes.

prude family attorneys were seeking footage of the incident and documents related to the mental health arrest.

the city dragged its feet on this request for months. and the public wasn't alerted to this information until the family and attorneys made it public on sept. 2, 2020.

May 21 Singletary email speaks about bodycam footage redaction. But Singletary isn’t sure if this is in reference to Prude or the handcuffing of the 10 yo child on Route 104

This email from May 19 speaks of the handcuffing of the 10 yo child on route 104 during a traffic stop. Singletary outlines policy and procedure here, offers clarification. Said he didn’t support a blanket policy to not handcuff children.

now speaking of the june 2020 incident where singletary held a press conference after a viral video shows a man acting erratically at bay and goodman. and then another man was arrested after filming the incident.

celli: after this incident involving another mental health arrest, did you think about publicly disclosing or discussing the prude incident?

singletary: no, it didn't dawn on me at the time. no one died in this incident.

there was internal professional standards section investigation after the bay and goodman incident, to see if the officers violated any policies or procedures. singletary announced that during the press conference on june 28, 2020. there is no rule prohibiting this announcement

June 2020 email from Singletary to Warren about homicide notification.

celli: would prude's death count toward the homicide total in 2020?

singletary: i think so.

the mayor and i had conversations about homicides all the time, singletary says.

these are important to the mayor and i, he says, including the prude incident.

"special circumstances with police involved."

celli: police caused the death?

singletary: correct.

may 25, 2020 death of george floyd now being brought up. video of mr. floyd's death circulated on social media in the days following his death, celli asks.

singletary: i don't remember.

there was a massive BLM protest in rochester on may 30.

celli: were there any discussions with police or city officials after may 25 and before aug. 4, where mr. floyd's death was compared to mr. prude's death?

singletary: yes, conversations toward the end (in august and september)

celli: asking between may 25 and aug. 4?

singletary: yes, there was a foil request.

celli: did anybody else in city govt talk about prude in the context of floyd?

singletary: no.

celli: there were no discussions about prude because of the existence of the floyd killing and the demonstrations that followed? (focused on period between may 25 and aug. 4)

singletary: there were no discussions, other than the foil request from the prude family attorneys

celli: would the existence of floyd's death (the knee on the neck) stop the release of information about the death of prude?

singletary: no.

celli: was floyd a factor at all?

singletary: no, the officer had his knee on floyd's neck for nine minutes.

the similarities between the two deaths in police custody are pretty difficult to ignore, celli seems to be insinuating.

singletary won't relent.

floyd was never brought up in context of prude, singletary says.

Email chain from June 3-4: discussion between RPD leadership where former deputy simmons says they should deny foil request as the case is still active and releasing info about the arrest, in light of Floyd, could lead to violence in Rochester

Had the footage been released, we would’ve had that conversation, Singletary says. Final decision is up to city law dept.

celli: June 4 email chain, where singletary says, 'I totally agree.' do you think the mayor's office needed a heads up here?

singletary: i agreed with simmons' concerns, concerning the climate of the city and the chance of unrest/violence.

singletary: had video been released, we would've had discussions with the mayor's office and communications dept.

celli: was the major crimes unit criminal investigation done by june 4? that's what the email shows.

singletary: unclear. i wouldn't be able to garner what capt. umbrino was translating in his email to commander favor.

umbrino email: we can say the investigation was "technically open" in order to deny the foil request? celli asks.

singletary: i can't translate that. i'm not sure exactly what umbrino meant. the state ag's investigation was open at this point.

singletary: we had the june 4 meeting with city law dept to discuss.

celli: simmons wrote, "i ask that we reach out to corporation counsel and ask them to deny the (foil) request..."

singletary: correct. but i wanted to set up a meeting with city law dept.

singletary: in deputy chief's simmons statements, he suggested the foil request be denied. that would be part of the discussion.

singletary won't say if agreed with simmons' request.

singletary: in minneapolis, an officer kneeled on floyd for nine minutes. the incident in rochester was different.

celli: falsely comparing them would create violent blowback in rochester?

singletary: i can see how people would draw similarities.

singletary: i wanted to have a conversation about this process. simmons had comments that were echoed by others in the dept. but we hadn't made a decision to deny it yet.

there was a june 4 meeting with city lawyers patrick beath and tim curtin, and deputy chief simmons and singletary. it lasted 30 minutes.

celli: were you of the belief the city should deny the release of the video?

singletary: the mental hygiene aspect, factors around the country (demonstrations in the wake of floyd).

singletary doesn't provide a concrete answer here.

celli: because there were demonstrations around the country and also in rochester, is that a lawful reason to deny foil request (for release of video)?

singletary: no.

may 26 meeting between warren and singletary, where they met the day after george floyd was killed.

celli: did you discuss the prude matter that day?

singletary: no.

celli: what was the context of the meeting?

singletary: we talked about policing and things going on around the country.

Singletary kept a notebook where he detailed his meetings with the mayor. Celli asks him to translate.

the dates in the notebook are dates of events he wants to remind himself to bring up info/events with warren, singletary says. typically met the last monday of every month, typically around 1 p.m.

no discussion during the month of may about prude, singletary says.

notebook includes march 23 note about prude and discussing it with warren, singletary says.

we never had any conversations about prude after that, after the state AG took over the investigation. internal investigation hadn't interviewed the officers at this point in april 2020

next prude-related discussion with the mayor was aug. 4, singletary confirms. on that date, through deputy mayor jim smith, warren asked for bodycam footage.

after april 27, there were no prude-related discussions between warren and singletary until aug. 4.

singletary: it was my understanding the bodycam footage wouldn't be released to the prude family until after the state ag's investigation was over.

the investigation is still ongoing.

celli: were there discussions about you running for mayor?

singletary: i was content in my position. i would never run against the mayor unless she stepped down or ran for another officer.

march 28, 2020 text, which isn't shared publicly, between singletary and a "friend" where singletary says:

"When/if Lovely stepped down, I would strongly consider such (running for mayor)."

another text from june 30, 2020 says warren had decided to run for re-election (it hadn't been announced publicly yet).

singletary: it was all over social media. told warren, if one day the opportunity came, i would. but i would never run against her.

singletary: i am flattered by it, but i have enough to deal with right now and won't consider running for mayor while all of this is going on.

text exchange with mike mazzeo about the bodycam footage next:

singletary: DA doorley takes exception when we release footage with pending criminal charges.

he says this isn't related to prude, it is related to protests.

celli didn't specify the date of these texts.

celli: you received a notification from curtin, the city lawyer, on aug. 4 that prude family filed a notice of claim (intent to sue). curtin asked if warren had seen the bodycam footage. had any city official asked if warren had seen the footage before aug. 4?

singletary: no.

singletary text: i don't believe she has seen it.

and added, wow, they wanna sue for $75 million.

but singletary said no one in the police department had shown her the video before aug. 4.

celli: maybe she saw it elsewhere?

singletary: unclear.

no break at this point, the deposition will continue.

(maybe @CassIzzCass will see this and bring me breakfast.)

Notice from state attorney general’s office dictates that office would be taking over the criminal investigation.

Singletary didn’t learn about this before April 21. And he alerted the mayor on April 27

there is no rpd protocol about notifying the public (about incidents like this), singletary says.

celli: should an in-custody death remain confidential?

singletary: no.

celli: did that change by virtue of the state ag's office taking over the investigation?

singletary: no.

nothing precluded them alerting the public. but they didn't.

celli: this is a good time to break, because the next section is "rocky waters."

we will now break and return at 2:15 p.m.

update: i think @cassizzcass saw it.