Rochester Wants Answers on Surveillance Disparity

Black and Hispanic neighborhoods have 3x more police cameras. The Police Accountability Board is asking why.

Surveillance cameras mounted on a lamp post in an urban setting

TL;DR: Rochester’s Police Accountability Board released a report showing the city’s blue light cameras are concentrated in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods at three times the rate of white areas, with no correlation to actual crime data. The Rochester Police Department also hasn’t completed a required privacy impact assessment for its $3.8 million body-worn camera system. The PAB wants the city to start conducting privacy assessments before deploying drones, Ring partnerships, and other surveillance tech. The proposal is called “Surveillance Technology and Privacy Impact Assessments: A Proposal for Change.”

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Rochester has 157 blue light cameras scattered across the city, monitored 24/7.[1] If you assumed they were placed where crime is highest, you’d be wrong.

The Police Accountability Board’s report, titled “Policing and Community Surveillance,” found that residents in predominantly Black or Hispanic neighborhoods are three times more likely to be surveilled than those in predominantly white areas.[2][3]

And here’s the kicker: camera placement doesn’t correlate with crime rates. The PAB examined crime data from 2023 to 2025 and found no connection between where cameras sit and where crimes occur.[3]

“Blue light cameras are almost three times greater in census tracts with predominantly black or Hispanic populations” compared to white areas, the report states.[1]

What’s Being Deployed

The PAB’s report covers the full surveillance arsenal:[1]

  • 157 blue light cameras with 24/7 monitoring
  • Drones (UAVs): missions jumped from 13 in 2019 to 73 in 2024
  • $3.8 million body-worn camera system (2022)
  • Ring camera partnerships
  • KingFish cellular transceivers: reportedly discontinued in February 2025

Former officer Sean Smith called blue light cameras “the laziest way of policing,” arguing they disconnect communities rather than protect them.[1]

The Assessment That Never Happened

Rochester city council requires a privacy impact assessment (PIA) before deploying surveillance systems. It’s in the ordinance.

The RPD’s $3.8 million body-worn camera system? No PIA on file.[2][3]

When the PAB asked about drone deployment policies, one official responded: “We don’t have one.”[1]

So the cameras went up. The drones took off. The assessments never happened. And now residents in certain neighborhoods live under surveillance that was never formally evaluated for privacy impacts.

What the PAB Is Proposing

The board’s draft proposal, “Surveillance Technology and Privacy Impact Assessments: A Proposal for Change,” recommends:[1][2]

  • Complete the required PIAs for body-worn cameras, finally
  • Submit PIAs to City Council before any new surveillance-related legislation
  • Publish all PIAs on the RPD Open Data Portal for public access
  • Use U.S. Department of Justice PIA templates as a baseline

PAB Executive Director Lesli Myers-Small put it bluntly: “Oversight is about ensuring innovation does not outpace accountability. As technology evolves, our protections must evolve with it.”[4]

The Problem: They Can’t Actually Force Anything

Here’s where it gets frustrating.

In April 2025, State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Rochester Police union (the Locust Club) and stripped the PAB of its investigative powers.[5] The board appealed. On March 23, 2026, just days ago, New York’s highest court upheld the decision.[6]

What can the PAB actually do now? Two things: exist, and make policy recommendations.[5]

They can’t investigate officers. They can’t subpoena documents. They can’t discipline anyone. They can write reports and hope the city listens.

This surveillance report? It’s a recommendation. The city council can adopt it, ignore it, or file it somewhere nobody will find it.

Why This Matters Beyond Rochester

Rochester isn’t unique. Cities across the country have deployed surveillance technology faster than policies could keep up:[7]

  • Seattle’s police contract still blocks long-promised accountability reforms, including capping civilian investigators
  • Oakland disbanded its Citizens Police Review Board in 2018 after two decades of federal oversight
  • More than 200 civilian oversight agencies exist in America today

But few have produced data like this: a clear, documented disparity in where surveillance gets deployed, cross-referenced with crime data showing no justification.

Privacy impact assessments aren’t a new idea. The G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance developed a model PIA policy used by Seattle, Helsinki, and Toronto.[8] The Department of Justice has templates ready. Rochester just needs to use them.

What Happens Next

The PAB held a public meeting on March 13, 2026 at the R-Center on Webster Avenue.[4] They’re collecting community feedback on the draft proposal.

The final version goes to:

  • Rochester Police Department
  • City Council
  • The Mayor

Whether anyone acts on it is another question.

For now, the cameras keep watching. And if you live in the wrong neighborhood, three times more of them are pointed at you.

References

  1. Rochester Beacon: Police surveillance and privacy (March 26, 2026)
  2. 13WHAM: Rochester’s Police Accountability Board presents report on local policing technology
  3. Rochester First: PAB releases proposal for change on community surveillance
  4. NY State of Politics: Rochester PAB report examines policing, community surveillance
  5. WXXI News: PAB stripped of nearly all powers in Supreme Court ruling (April 2025)
  6. WXXI News: Ruling stripping PAB of nearly all powers upheld by state’s highest court (March 23, 2026)
  7. Axios Seattle: Seattle police contract still blocks long-promised accountability reforms (March 25, 2026)
  8. Future of Privacy Forum: Privacy Impact Assessment Policies Help Cities Use and Share Data Responsibly