ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Rochester’s Police Accountability Board announced the selection of its executive director Friday at the steps of City Hall.

The first-ever PAB executive director is Conor Dwyer Reynolds, a clinical lecturer in Law, Associate Research Scholar in Law, and Environmental Law Fellow at Yale Law School. Reynolds co-directs Yale’s Environmental Protection Clinic, co-teaches Environmental Law, and is a supervising fellow in the Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic. His work focuses on democracy, tort law, and environmental law. He is a native of Rochester, New York.

“This board has the right expertise, powers, and vision to do the work Rochester overwhelmingly voted for us to do,” Reynolds said. “This board will continue to work for and in partnership with every part of our community. With the right resources we can create real change.”

Reynolds said he will begin his work Monday, setting up at City Hall, and reaching out to community leaders to “listen, listen, listen,”

“After an extensive search, that showcased significant talent, my colleagues and I unanimously selected Conor Dwyer Reynolds to lead us as the inaugural Executive Director of the Police Accountability Board,” announced Shani Wilson, Board Chair.  “We are very excited to share this news. During our search for our Executive Director, Conor stood out as singularly prepared and skilled to step into this position.”

Last November, Rochester voters overwhelmingly approved of the PAB referendum, with 75% of the vote. In May, a New York State Supreme Court ruling removed the PAB’s disciplinary power.

The board is made up of nine people, four appoints from each of the City Council districts, four appointments from the Police Accountability Board Alliance, and one appointment is from Mayor Lovely Warren.

The PAB has been in the spotlight since the news of Daniel Prude’s death, after a police encounter, became public in early September.

Check back with News 8 WROC as we will continue to update this developing story.