Staff reports

Ciminelli%2C 58%2C now awaits formal confirmation from City Council

By May%2C Ciminelli has to deliver a plan for reinstating neighborhood substations

Ciminelli grew up on the city%27s west side in the 19th Ward and graduated from McQuaid

He has served as interim chief since James Sheppard retired at the end of 2013

Hours before her national search for a new police chief closed on Friday, Mayor Lovely Warren stood in the atrium of City Hall and announced she was permanently appointing interim Police Chief Michael Ciminelli.

She spoke of his being a native of Rochester, knowing the department well, his experience. But, she said, "most of all, I love his heart."

"We could not wait any longer," the mayor explained, saying she was motivated by heart-breaking notes she received this week from children at Cameron Faith Ministries in the Lyell-Otis neighborhood that spoke of gun violence and wanting safety.

Ciminelli, 58, now awaits formal confirmation from City Council, with a hearing and vote expected later this month. On his immediate agenda is a deadline of delivering a plan by May for reinstating neighborhood substations. Other initiatives include promises to go after open-air drug markets and get more officers out of their cars and walking beats.

Warren said she did not look at other resumes, and did not know how many the city received. The city did not use an executive search firm but instead relied on advertising. Expenses were not immediately available, and the city deemed the number of résumés collected a confidential personnel matter.

Ciminelli grew up on the city's west side in the 19th Ward. He graduated from McQuaid Jesuit High School and entered the police academy on March 14, 1977. His RPD career includes serving as commanding officer of the Special Operations Division, commander of Patrol Division West, a sergeant, a homicide investigator and a patrol officer. He was named interim chief when James Sheppard retired at the end of 2013.

Ciminelli did not initially apply. It wasn't until he was in the role as interim chief, he said, that he decided he wanted the job permanently.

Warren said Ciminelli has led "with heart and determination" since stepping into the interim role on Jan. 1. In offering him the job Thursday, the mayor said, she asked if he still was committed. "He said, 'Absolutely.'"

"You really care about the place you grew up ... this is my city, this is my hometown," he said Friday.

Ciminelli holds a law degree from the University of Buffalo Law School and is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology and Monroe Community College. He left the department in the 1980s, returning in 2009. In the interim, he served as assistant Monroe County district attorney, and held various titles during 20 years with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, including deputy chief counsel for operational law. He was police chief in Elmira, Chemung County, from 1996 until 2002.

He takes over a department with an $86 million budget and roughly 725 sworn officers. Being promoted from within, yet having the added experience and perspective of someone who has worked outside, is "the best of both worlds," said Mike Mazzeo, president of the police officers union.

Ciminelli also worked on labor issues as deputy chief so comes to the job well versed in those matters, as well.

"I think the rank and file have a level of confidence with him," Mazzeo said, "and we look forward to working with him."

BDSHARP@DemocratandChronicle.com

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