ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ Note: Attention to this issue from Governor Cuomo could mean justice for families impacted by the tragedy of police killings of suspects. Though it is an essential step forward to fix the justice system, we also hope that the Governor’s office focuses on preventive measures like Crisis Intervention Teams in the next session agenda, in order to divert these preventable incidences.
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Cuomo Meets With Activists, Lays Out His Plan for Oversight of Police
Times Union; Rick Karlin, 4/29/2015
As Baltimore smoldered following the death of an unarmed man in police custody, Gov. Ìýoffered lawmakers a choice about future oversight of similar controversial cases in ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿Ìýstate.
If lawmakers don’t approve his call for an independent monitor to oversee legal proceedings that follow such deaths, Cuomo will use his executive powers to go even farther and create a special prosecutor who would have the power to pursue charges againstÌýofficers.
The choice was outlined behind closed doors on Tuesday, when the governor met with members of a watchdog group, theÌý, and families of more than a half-dozen ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ City residents who died unarmed at the hands of police during the past fewÌýyears.
The group believes a special prosecutor is needed to pursue justice against police if they have acted illegally in cases where suspects died at their hands. After a roughly hour-long meeting with Cuomo, Justice Committee members said they would continue to push for the establishment of a special prosecutor’s office even as the governor pursues his more moderateÌýroute.
“We are not in agreement with the governor. We still think that his proposal for an independent monitor doesn’t go far enough and would be counterproductive,” saidÌý, a co-director of the Justice Committee, a group fighting what they say is police violence and racism in ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ÌýCity.
“If it’s not passed, he would give us the special prosecutor that we asked for,” saidÌý. Her sonÌýÌýdied last summer after police put him in a chokehold as he was arrested for selling loose cigarettes on a Staten Island streetÌýcorner.
Garner’s death, as well as police shootings in Ferguson, Mo., and North Charleston, S.C., and the recent death of Baltimore’sÌýÌýhave focused national attention on use-of-force policies and broader issues involving police and minorities. All of the victims in those cases were African-AmericanÌýmen.
Calls for greater scrutiny and oversight following the deaths of unarmed civilians emerged after Garner’s death and a grand jury’s decision not to indict any of the officers involved. But they haven’t gained traction in the fullÌýLegislature.
SenateÌýÌýhave pushed for a creation of a special investigator within the Attorney General’s Office to investigate unarmed deaths, but Republicans who control the majority haven’t moved itÌýforward.
The creation of a special prosecutor is opposed by many district attorneys and police unions around theÌýstate.
The Baltimore demonstrations and riots following Gray’s death from a spinal injury have moved the debate up several spaces on the list of agenda items for the New York Legislature to deal with before the end of the session inÌýJune.
Not all of the police-related deaths have occurred in major metropolitanÌýareas.
In Albany, the public is still grappling with the April 2 second death ofÌý, a 39-year-old city resident and former basketball star who suffered from schizophrenia. Ivy died after police used a Taser on him during a stop on an Albany street. Police contend he had lunged at them and ran when they were frisking him for weapons. Ivy also had a heartÌýcondition.
Liem said her group was reaching out to Ivy’s family to see if they wanted to join the push for a specialÌýprosecutor.
“We’re just getting in touch with them,” sheÌýsaid.
Justice Committee members believe a special prosecutor is needed in part because local district attorneys and police officers work so closelyÌýtogether.
Local district attorneys “cannot be impartial,” said Carol Gray, whose 16-year-old son, Kimani, was shot and killed by police in Brooklyn in March 2013. The officers claimed the teen had pointed a handgun atÌýthem.
The activists, while disagreeing with Cuomo’s approach, described their meeting as a positive step. They plan to meet again before the legislative sessionÌýends.
“These families have endured unspeakable losses and their voices are important ones in this debate,” Cuomo’s counselÌýÌýsaid in a statement. “The governor has vowed to keep the dialogue open and meet with them again in the comingÌýweeks.”
, whose 18-year-old son,Ìý, was shot by police in the Bronx in 2012, earlier on Tuesday observed that the advent of smartphone videos has brought far more scrutiny to policeÌýactions.
Both Garner’s death and the April 4 shooting ofÌýÌýin North Charleston, S.C., as he fled a police officer were recorded and became national symbols of what critics say is policeÌýmisconduct.
“The proof is in the video,” MalcolmÌýsaid.