Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren on Monday permanently relieved the city’s police chief of his duties just days after he said he was retiring, CNN reports.
The announcement comes as the city deals with the aftermath of Daniel Prude's death while in police custody.
Outgoing Chief La'Ron Singletary had announced last week his intent to retire at the end of September, but a review of the case has now led to his ouster.
"This initial look has shown what so many have suspected, that we have a pervasive problem in the Rochester Police Department," Warren said in a news release quoted by CNN. "One that views everything through the eyes of the badge and not the citizens we serve. It shows that Mr. Prude's death was not taken as seriously as it should have been by those who reviewed the case throughout City government at every level."
The decisions followed a "cursory management review of the city's role in the death of Daniel Prude and subsequent actions," according to the release posted Monday on the city website.
Though Prude died in March, attorneys for his family released police body camera video that shows officers covering his head with a "spit sock" and holding him on the ground in a prone position before he stopped breathing.
Prude stopped breathing and was declared brain-dead at a hospital, where he passed away March 30.
The Monroe County medical examiner ruled Prude's death a homicide, citing complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint. The report also cites excited delirium and acute PCP intoxication as causes of death.
Prude's sister last week filed suit in federal court against Singletary, 13 other officers and the upstate New York city, alleging in part a department cover-up of the death.
Prude was suffering an "acute manic, psychotic episode" at the time of the arrest, according to the lawsuit. Neither the chief nor the city responded to requests for comment about the litigation.
In a statement last week announcing his retirement, Singletary said the public was misinformed about what he did.
"The members of the Rochester Police Department and the Greater Rochester Community know my reputation and know what I stand for," Singletary said. "The mischaracterization and the politicization of the actions that I took after being informed of Mr. Prude's death is not based on facts, and is not what I stand for."
The chief was not the only top officer who said he was leaving the department. When Singletary announced his retirement, officials also said Deputy Chief Joseph Morabito and Commander Fabian Rivera were retiring.
Two other command officers -- Deputy Chief Mark Simmons and Commander Henry Favor -- are returning to their previously held lower rank of lieutenant. Simmons and Favor are returning to their previous positions of their own volition, according to city officials.