City of Rochester
News Release
(Thursday, July 7, 2022) – Mayor Malik D. Evans today announced that he has named Interim Chief David Smith to be the permanent Chief of the Rochester Police Department and has named placements in other key positions.
“David Smith brings a demonstrated commitment to serving the people of Rochester with integrity and compassion and I am proud to put him in a position to instill those values in every officer of the Rochester Police Department,” said Mayor Evans. “These appointments are the result of careful deliberation to complete my picture of a leadership team comprised of the highest caliber of talented, energetic and selfless servant leaders. As we move into the second half of my first year in office, we are accelerating out of the curve with increasing momentum toward our vision for a hope-filled Rochester with an exciting future.”
In addition to Chief Smith, Mayor Evans has appointed Keith Stith as the RPD’s Deputy Chief of Community Engagement; Carla Johnson as Manager of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; William Boudreaux as Chief Technology Officer; and Harriet Fisher as Manager of the Office of Project Management.
David Smith is the current Interim Chief and has been a member of the RPD since 1992, beginning as a patrol officer in the Southwest quadrant. As interim chief, he has implemented several policy changes regarding officer conduct at protests to safeguard citizens’ rights, including the prohibition of tear gas, flash bangs and long-range acoustical devices. He is a strong advocate for building relationships in the community through foot patrol and bicycle patrols and once commanded the bicycle unit.
The chief selection follows an extensive national search that included public feedback with more than 100 residents and other internal and external stakeholders. More than 25 highly qualified law enforcement executive officers were strongly considered for the position.
Keith Stith, RPD’s new Deputy Chief of Community Engagement, is a more than 30-year veteran of law enforcement and the recently retired Chief of Detectives of the Hudson County, NJ, Prosecutor’s Office. With his appointment, the City now has civilian and uniformed violence prevention trust-building teams in the Mayor’s Office and Police Department. In Hudson, Stith created the county’s first Gang Task Force to address the proliferation of street gangs and gun violence. As a detective, he consistently outperformed the national homicide clearance rate of 67 percent, with rates between 83 and 100 percent. Because homicides investigations require extensive witness cooperation, clearance rates are a key measure of trust building in law enforcement.
Carla Johnson, now the City’s Manager of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, began working for the City in 1989 and was continuously promoted to positions of increasing responsibility. During a brief retirement, from 2018 to 2021, she worked for the Center for Dispute Settlement. In her role with the City, she will implement important initiatives including those defined in the RASE Commission’s report.
William Boudreaux, the City’s new Chief Technology Officer, has been the Acting City Director of Information Technology since January. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the field. In addition to the City, his professional experience includes work for the University of Rochester Medical Center, United Technologies Corp., and Ultralife Batteries Inc.
Harriet Fisher, Director of the Office of Project Management, has worked for the City since 1998 and was most recently the Enterprise Applications Manager in the Information Technology Department. She has a distinguished record of selecting and implementing new automated systems to modernize such City functions as criminal-investigation tracking in the RPD; licensing in the City Clerk’s Office; and permit tracking in the Department of Environmental Services. She will lead implementation of projects including the City’s mainframe transition as well as its land management system updates, which will support the project currently underway to align the City Zoning Code with vision of the Rochester 2034 comprehensive plan.
The appointments of David Smith and William Boudreaux require City Council confirmation.
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