The Rochester Police Department has begun a national search for a new chief.
Chief Michael Ciminelli accepted a position with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and was to step down Sept. 15, according to information from Mayor Lovely Warren’s office. On Sept. 4, she named Deputy Chief Mark Simmons as interim police chief toserve in that role during a national search for a permanent chief.
Simmons, 38, has been serving as deputy chief of the department’s Administration Bureau overseeing policy development, budget, training, personnel management, labor relations, fleet and facility management, grants, and emergency planning. The Rochesternative has been a member of RPD since 2002.
Ciminelli was appointed by Warren in March 2014 and had served as interim chief since the Warren took office in January of that year.