« Unfortunately, state law and union contract prevents me from taking more immediate and serious action, » the mayor said in a statement.
Officers involved in the pepper-spraying of a 9-year-old girl in Rochester, New York, have been suspended, the city announced Monday. The suspensions are effective immediately and will last at least until an internal police investigation is concluded. « What happened Friday was simply horrible, and has rightly outraged, all of our community, » Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said in a statement. « Unfortunately, state law and union contract prevents me from taking more immediate and serious action. » Warren said she would « lead the charge » to change these laws to « allow cities to more quickly issue discipline in cases like this one. » The officers were suspended with pay, on the condition that a suspension without pay couldn’t last more than 30 days without a concluded internal investigation, CBS affiliate WROC-TV reports.
