The Rochester Locust Club: Power, Impunity, & Police Budgets
Rochester, NY has a budget problem…and a police problem: in blatant defiance of the expressed wishes of its residents (and Slate-backed council members), Mayor Evans’ city budget persistently overspends on policing compared to other services Rochesterians need and prioritize more. We’ve discussed this particular problem already, but here are some quick highlights:
The 2024–2025 police budget is the largest in our city’s history: over $110 million. That’s more than the budgets for Neighborhood & Business Development, Recreation & Human Services, the Library, and Emergency Communications combined.
Compared to the 10 largest cities in New York State, Rochester ranks fourth for police spending as a percentage of the city’s overall budget.
More than 10 rank-and-file officers in the RPD make above $250,000 per year (3 of them made over $300,000 last year), while the highest-paid teacher in the district makes less than half of that.
Why is it that RPD consistently gets a bigger slice of pie than other departments even though the Mayor’s own study indicated Rochesterians have different priorities? How come the mayor consistently awards RPD additional funding through collective bargaining agreements without seeking input from his constituents or City Council? Why are there so many legal barriers in place that protect police from being held accountable? What can be done to change the way our city funds and protects the police so that Rochesterians can have access to the life-affirming services they need and deserve?
At the heart of all these questions lies Rochester’s Police Union: the aptly-named Locust Club.
The Locust Club—An Overview
While the reference to an insatiable insect plague would make sense given how hungrily they gobble up city resources, Rochester’s Police Union’s namesake is actually even worse—it comes from the wood their nightsticks used to be made of.
While initially instituted as a social club for police officers, the Locust Club began its metamorphosis into a bargaining unit by negotiating for better pay and hours in the 1960s.
Since then, the Locust Club has been successfully stymying police reform at every conceivable opportunity. In 1961, in response to an all-too-familiar slew of police violence against Black Rochesterians, the City Council voted to instate the prototypical Police Advisory Board—just as they’re doing today, the Locust Club opposed any sort of accountability measures for Rochester’s police force.
In 1975, Officer Michael Leach murdered Denise Hawkins, an 18-year-old mother, outside her home. Rochester’s Black community organized, and a Monroe County grand jury called for his suspension—the Locust Club decried his suspension and then filed lawsuits to hamper the Police Advisory Board’s ability to investigate the case. Leach was back on active duty within a month, eventually reaching the rank of captain.
In March of 2020, Rochester police officers murdered Daniel Prude, a Black man experiencing a mental health crisis. Then-Locust Club President Mike Mazzeo had the following to say at a press conference following the tragedy:
“We don’t have the problems that other parts of this country have. It should start being recognized by the mayor and City Council members. Start talking about what we do here in this city that’s right, that should be a model for other areas.”
Mazzeo’s attitude sums up the philosophy and goal of the Locust Club perfectly—the choices a Rochester Police officer makes while on duty are the right choices, regardless of the consequences, and no person, nor any governing body, should have any ability to question or hold officers accountable for these choices.
As the recognized bargaining agent for Rochester’s police force, the Locust Club has systematically bargained for constraints to be placed on the ways officers can be disciplined in order to further its goal of a police force that can act with impunity. WXXI reporter Gino Fanelli reported that, in 1974, there was less than a page of provisions dictating how officer discipline should be carried out. “Today, they take up four pages.”
With the recent release of the Police Accountability Board’s report on near-total lack of officer accountability under the current interpretation of the “command discipline” procedure, such bargaining power must be called into question.
More Police Spending
As noted above, Rochester’s police force occupies a greater percentage of the City Budget than six out of the ten largest municipalities in New York (including New York City). They also enjoy the largest allocation of any department within Rochester’s budget. Despite this, the Locust Club’s collective bargaining agreements with the Mayor allow them to consistently secure extra-budgetary funding.
In 2023, Mayor Malik Evans agreed to an $18 million arbitration award with the Locust Club, which amounted to a $4,000 payout to each officer on duty between 2020 and 2022, as well as five years of retroactive raises.
Working an essential job during a global pandemic is deserving of compensation, however this award was twice what our city’s firefighters and other city employees received.
A year later, after months of heated debate focused on the inordinate allocation to the police department in the 2024 City Budget, it ultimately passed by a narrow 5–4 margin. This was a monumental disappointment because $110 million—16% of our city’s total budget—is far too much, especially considering the Mayor’s own budget input session revealed Rochesterians did not rank policing as a top-3 spending priority.
Less than two months after the passing of the city budget, Mayor Evans made a collective bargaining agreement with the Locust Club, granting officers a 15.5% raise over the next four years.
These funds were not budgeted for; they were not discussed with City Council, or Rochesterians—the decision was made in a closed-door negotiation between Mayor Evans and representatives from the Locust Club.
How to Stem the Bleeding
How can we protect ourselves from the ravenous budgetary plague that is the Locust Club?
We must elect leaders who will stand up to their demands, of course.
The City Charter grants the Mayor the power to negotiate contracts, which includes the collective bargaining agreements between our city and the Locust Club. Under Mayor Evans’ administration, Rochester’s police budget has ballooned—every year for the past decade has been the largest investment in policing in our city’s history.
The road to a future in which our budgetary allocations match the will of the people who live here starts with electing a mayor who will stand up to the Locust Club’s demands, and that requires serious organizing.
2025 is an election year. Rochester has the opportunity to choose not only a Mayor whose values match their own, but City Council Members as well. Five council seats are up for re-election next year—this is a powerful opportunity for Rochesterians to take charge and transform their city for the better.
We look forward to your continued engagement—stay tuned for more details.