Earlier this year, former Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda resigned suddenly from his post as top cop in the Buffalo Police Department. New commissioner Byron Lockwood has since taken his place. Our partners at Investigative Post looked into the process, or lack thereof, that got him there.
Lockwood was unanimously confirmed by the Buffalo Common Council two weeks ago. He inherits a troubled department from Derenda, who resigned suddenly in January.
Investigative Post has exposed some of these issues from poor training in the use of force and firearms to illegal stop and frisk tactics used by some officers in the department. Also, two men died in encounters with Buffalo police last year.
Mayor Brown is authorized by the City Charter to nominate a commissioner, who is subject to confirmation by the Common Council. The mayor is free to select a nominee as he sees fit, and in this case, the city did not conduct a formal search or otherwise recruit job candidates. Nor did Brown interview anyone other than Lockwood.
Click here to read the full story from Investigative Post.
