REPORT: CHOKEHOLD BAN IGNORED
New York police received little or no discipline from their superiors in 10 recent case involving the use of the banned chokehold, the city’s first report by the Police Department’s inspector general said on Monday. The report comes as the city continues to reel from the July death of Eric Garner, who was selling loose, untaxed cigarettes and was placed in a chokehold during a confrontation with police in Staten Island. The report looked at 10 chokehold cases between 2009 and 2014. In four of the cases, police used chokeholds as a first act against people who had confronted them only verbally, not physically. “While the substantiated use of prohibited chokeholds by members of the NYPD in any context is troubling, the fact that several of the subject officers in the 10 cases …used chokeholds as a first act of physical force and in response to mere verbal confrontation is particularly alarming,” the report stated.
— Los Angeles Times
The decision to bring murder charges occurred at a time when police tactics are under intense scrutiny nationwide, fueled by the fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old in Ferguson, Mo., and the chokehold death of another unarmed man in New York City. Grand juries declined to charge officers in those cases, leading to large protests.
Acknowledging the frustration over the secrecy of the proceedings in those cases, the Albuquerque district attorney said she would bypass the grand jury process and instead present the murder case to a judge at a preliminary hearing that will be open to the public.
“Unlike Ferguson and unlike in New York City, we’re going to know. The public is going to have that information,” District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said.
Police said SWAT team member Dominique Perez and former detective Keith Sandy fatally shot James Boyd, a mentally ill homeless man who had frequent violent run-ins with law enforcement. Video from an officer’s helmet camera showed Boyd appearing to surrender when officers opened fire, but a defense lawyer characterized him as an unstable suspect who was “unpredictably and dangerously close to a defenseless officer while he was wielding two knives.”
“I’m looking forward … to the DA’s office presenting one single witness that says this is murder,” said Sam Bergman, a lawyer for Sandy.
Brandenburg srefused to provide specifics about the reasons for bringing the case, but said it was a lengthy and deliberate process involving several members of her staff.
Each officer faces a single count in the March death of the 38-year-old Boyd. The charges allow prosecutors to pursue either first-degree or second-degree murder against the officers.
Even before Boyd’s death, the U.S. Justice Department was investigating the use of force by Albuquerque police. The department recently signed an agreement to make changes after the government issued a harsh report. The agreement requires police to provide better training for officers and to dismantle troubled units.
Since 2010, Albuquerque police have been involved in 40 shootings, 27 of them deadly. After Boyd’s death, outrage over the trend grew and culminated with protests that included a demonstration where authorities fired tear gas and another that shut down a City Council meeting.
The criminal charges were the first Brandenburg has brought against officers in a shooting. She is in her fourth term as district attorney and is waging a fight with the Albuquerque Police Department over allegations that she committed bribery while intervening on behalf of her son in a burglary case.
Brandenburg said the charges against police had nothing to with the agency’s investigation into her and that her office got the case long before the bribery claims came to light.
The next step in the case will be a preliminary hearing where a judge will decide whether the case can proceed. The officers have not been booked or arrested. That would not happen until a judge renders a decision at the preliminary hearing. A date has not been set.
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