Town Hall On Police Mentoring Program Delayed In Wake Of Memphis

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The fallout from the heart-wrenching video of the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police has reached New Rochelle in an unexpected way.

Plans to highlight a partnership between the New Rochelle City School District and the New Rochelle Police Department has been delayed indefinitely. The "New Roads" mentoring program intended in part to make law enforcement's interactions with the new generation of New Rochelle citizens less fraught and more productive has taken a step back because of the brutality on display a thousand miles away.

In a letter to families on Monday evening, Superintendent Jonathan Raymond said the planned Superintendent's Town Hall to discuss the "New Roads" mentoring program would be postponed for the time being.

"Our community and our nation are still in shock and are gravely saddened by Tyre Nichols' death and the release of videos from Memphis over the weekend," Raymond wrote. "We do not want the behaviors of officers from out of our jurisdiction to overshadow the work we know is important for the children of our community."

The superintendent said that school and police leaders still believe in the program, but admit that the timing might not be appropriate given the disturbing nature of recent events.

"The purpose of New Roads is to establish stronger relationships with our NRPD officers through mentorship and enrichment opportunities," Raymond wrote. "We believe that this partnership with NRPD is important, and the school district and the police department recognize that this is not the right time to introduce this initiative to the community. We will revisit the conversation and program at some point in the future."