Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan, a top official at the Rochester Housing Authority, took over as the head of the Rochester Police force in New York on Saturday. This comes just weeks after the Black Lives Matter protests all over the world, with the US being its epicentre.
Cynthia has worked for the Rochester Police Department for 24 years before her retirement in 2009 and will be taking over in the aftermath of the controversial death of Daniel Prude in police custody.
Speaking about this, New York Mayor Lovely Warren said that Cynthia will be swearing-in as interim head of the police department on Oct. 14. “As the first woman to serve in this role, I am confident she will bring a different perspective and instil a fresh approach to policing, which are very much needed in our city at this particular time,” Warren said in a statement.
The mayor fired the last chief, La’Ron Singletary, on Sept. 14 as racial justice demonstrations boiled over the department’s handling of the asphyxiation death in March of Daniel Prude, 41, who was having a psychotic episode when he was arrested. Several officials have been effectively suspended without pay following this episode, following the ruling by a medical examiner calling Prude’s death a homicide by asphyxiation, with the drug PCP a contributing factor.