First Black woman named interim Rochester police chief after Daniel Prude’s death

The Rochester Police Department named its first Black woman as interim police chief following the death of Daniel Prude in police custody in March. 

Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan will replace former Chief La’Ron Singletary, whom Mayor Lovely Warren (D) fired earlier this month after video footage of Prude’s encounter with police was released. 

“I’ve got a year to do the best I can to help the city and get things on track,” Herriott-Sullivan said at a press conference Saturday morning, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported.

The former lieutenant with the Rochester Police Department left open that she might apply for the permanent appointment. She is currently executive director at the Rochester Housing Authority and leads a nonprofit organization that helps  the families of victims of violent crime. 

Her placement at the police department is effective Oct. 14. 

Prude, a 41-year-old Black man, died of asphyxiation after Rochester police put a hood over his head and pressed his face to the street for two minutes. He had been seen running naked through a neighborhood and experiencing a mental crisis. 

Prude’s death gained national attention earlier this month after his family released records and footage of the incident, which has fueled ongoing protests over police brutality and racial injustice that were sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.