NYAPRS Note: Questions about how police handle people with psychiatric disabilities, especially people of color, continue to be raised here in New York. These questions also apply to the NYC Police Department.
On April 3rd, NYPD responded to a “crisis” that resulted in their physically restraining a Queens African American woman, Sheresse Francis, who subsequently died of an apparent heart attack. The police report said that she died on arrival to the hospital but emergency room officials found that she had been dead for 90 minutes, leading Sheresse’s family to sue NYPD to release their records about what transpired that tragic day.
When police came to the home of Terrence Hale later that month at the request of his mother, “Ms. Hale accused the police of irritating her son, saying the officers had pushed him against a storefront” (New York Times). Hale went on to stab Officer Eder Loor, leading to call for an expansion of forced outpatient commitment under Kendra’s Law.
Why are we hearing so much about forced treatment but nothing about more/better police training?
Herve Gilles, Kenneth Chamberlain Fatal Shootings Draw Calls For Police Reviews
By Richard Liebson Journal News May. 9, 2012
Their deaths came a month apart and, in decisions made less than a week apart, grand juries on both sides of the Hudson River voted not to indict the police officers who killed them.
The failure of authorities to prosecute anyone in the aftermath of the police shootings of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., 68, at his home in White Plains and 48-year-old Herve Gilles on the streets of Spring Valley has fueled a growing outcry for “top-to-bottom” reviews of police policies and procedures – and of accusations by some that neither man would have been killed if he was white.
Police in White Plains and Spring Valley say they followed proper procedures and that the shootings were justified.
Gilles, a Haitian immigrant who was known to be emotionally disturbed and to have a drinking problem, was killed Dec. 14 by Spring Valley Police Officer John Roper, who police said acted in self-defense after Gilles attacked him, took his nightstick and bit him.
Chamberlain, a former Marine and retired correction officer, had also been drinking and had also been arrested a number of times, mostly for minor drug charges. He was acquitted of a murder charge and was the subject of a number of “aided case” calls to his apartment on reports of an emotionally disturbed person creating disturbances.
On Nov. 19, police went to Chamberlain’s home after his medical alert device was accidentally activated. Although he insisted he was all right and did not call police, officers broke down his door after an hour-long standoff because they said they were not sure if anyone else was inside or in danger. Chamberlain, police said, attacked officers with a hatchet and a knife, and kept coming after being shot with a stun gun and bean bags. He was killed by Officer Anthony Carelli when he was about to stab another officer.
Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced Thursday that a grand jury came back with no indictments in the Chamberlain case; Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe announced the Roper grand jury’s decision in a statement released Tuesday.
In the White Plains case, DiFiore said one officer used a racial slur while trying to distract Chamberlain during the standoff. Although no such claims were made in Spring Valley, Vilair Fonvil, a former mayoral and village board candidate, has described Gilles’ death as a “lynching,” and Renold Julien, director of a Haitian nonprofit organization in the village, said that, “In situations like this, the black person is always the loser.”
“It all boils down to the training of officers and the accountability of police department management,” said Damon Jones, head of the local chapter of Blacks in Law Enforcement of America. “Studies have shown that there’s less restraint to pull the trigger when it’s a black person. In these kinds of cases, when a person is killed or seriously injured, police shouldn’t be policing themselves and local district attorneys can’t be expected to do a credible job either.”
Like Jones, lawyers for the Chamberlain family are calling for the appointment of a inspector general or special prosecutor to investigate police shooting cases statewide. Family members and lawyer Mayo Bartlett met with state Sen. Eric Adams, D-Brooklyn, last week to discuss his efforts to establish an independent inspector general for New York City police, and to expand it beyond the city.
“There is an institutional bias with regard to district attorneys investigating and prosecuting local cops,” said Randolph McLaughlin, another of the Chamberlain family lawyers. “They work together on a daily basis. To expect the D.A.s to indict people they work with is unrealistic.”
McLaughlin said the secrecy of New York’s grand jury system also plays a role in perceptions about the prosecution of officers.
“We don’t know what’s being shown to a grand jury, or how it’s being presented,” he said.
The creation of an independent entity to investigate these kinds of cases, he said, “would get rid of the institutional bias.”
Willie Trotman, president of the Spring Valley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, agreed.
“It does seem like there’s a conflict to have police investigating themselves,” he said. “There needs to be some type of external group at least to oversee these investigations, or to review cases after they’re presented to a grand jury, just so people will know that everything was done on the up and up.”
The U.S. Justice Department announced last week it would review the Chamberlain case to determine whether criminal civil rights violations took place. The Gilles family is calling for a similar review, with family lawyer Sanford Rubenstein sending such a request Tuesday to Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Gilles stepsister, Marie Elias, said after meeting with Rockland prosecutors Tuesday, “The fight for justice continues.”
Fatal police shootings in Rockland
Dec. 24, 2008: Ramapo officer shot Thomas Jackson, 41, inside 96 Hempstead Road, New Hempstead, after he advanced on the officer with a foot-long-plus knife.
July 16, 2002: Haverstraw police officers shot Michael Aldridge, 18, of West Haverstraw after they say he fired upon officers following a robbery of the Samsondale Liquor store in Samsondale Plaza.
Sept. 15, 1999: Clarkstown police officers shot Stephen Stafford, 23, after he stabbed a police lieutenant. Police were trying to arrest Stafford for stabbing his mother and beating his father at their house.
In 1981, Ramapo Patrolman David Lamond shot Neil Bernstein, 23, while investigating a house burglary in Monsey.
Timeline: Herve Gilles case
Dec. 14: Spring Valley Police Officer John Roper responds to a report of an emotionally disturbed man causing trouble at El Buen Gusto, 11 Furman Ave. A fight ensues during which Herve Gilles is alleged to have grabbed Roper’s nightstick and then bitten the officer. Gilles is fatally shot in the head during the incident. Roper is treated for cuts and bite marks to his arms.
Dec. 15: Spring Valley Police Chief Paul Modica states that Roper appears to have acted properly during the incident but promises a complete investigation into the shooting.
Dec. 18: More than 500 people — many from Spring Valley’s Haitian-American community — march to the Spring Valley police station, where they continue to protest in support of Gilles and his family.
Dec. 20: Gilles’ family hires attorney Sanford Rubenstein to represent them as the investigation into the shooting continues. Rubenstein, a former Rockland legislator, has represented a number of high-profile clients, including Abner Louima and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Dec. 22: Rubenstein publicly questions whether Gilles’ shooting was justified.
Dec. 31: More than 500 people attend a two-hour funeral service for Gilles at the French Speaking Baptist Church in Spring Valley. Gilles is buried at Brick Church in New Hempstead.
April 13: Protesters peacefully march down Route 45 in support of Gilles. The protest marks four months since the shooting.
April 23: A Rockland grand jury begins to hear evidence collected during three different investigations performed by authorities into the shooting death.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20120509/NEWS03/305090079