Councilmembers Call For Thorough Investigation Of Garner Death

Aiming to serve as a voice for Eric Garner and other victims of alleged police brutality, members of the New York City Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus and other elected officials convened on the steps of City Hall Tuesday to call for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Garner’s death last week.

Garner, a 43-year old African-American father of six from Staten Island, died after a police officer appeared to use an illegal chokehold to take Garner down after he allegedly resisted arrest for selling untaxed cigarettes.

Despite chokeholds being explicitly prohibited by the New York Police Department, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) reported that from 2009 until 2013 there were roughly 1,022 documented instances where police officers were accused of using the tactic. Of the 462 cases that were later fully investigated, it was proven that a chokehold was actually used in nine of them and in 206 cases a lack of evidence threw a wrench into things.

The numbers were alarming to City Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson, who chairs the Council’s Public Safety Committee, and was disheartened to see that the relationship between the NYPD and the community they are tasked with protecting is filled with hostility.

“We were moving in right direction and unfortunately now we have taken five steps back,” Gibson said, her remarks punctuated by the chant of the men and women flanking her shouting, “No justice! No Peace!”

City Councilman Andy King, co-chair of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, said that the city could begin to move forward again by seeking justice for the Garner family. The Caucus’ ultimate goal, he said, is to ensure that the case is investigated thoroughly and resolved swiftly while also holding those who perpetrated the attack accountable to the full extent of the law, as well as providing for Garner’s family. 

“They took away the breadwinner. They took away the patriarch of that family, so that family needs be compensated,” King said.

Other officials in attendance said that getting closure for the Garner family is only part of the solution. The video capturing Garner’s arrest served as the impetus for public officials like Public Advocate Letitia James to suggest that all street encounters between civilians and police should be videotaped going forward, saying that the incident “brings us back to a time when equal justice wasn’t in reach of every single New Yorker.”

Councilwoman Inez Barron echoed James’ statement, while taking her suggestion a step forward, stating that interrogations should also be recorded, and bluntly adding that the attack was an instance of over-policing because of Garner’s race. She went on to say that even with these events being documented on tape residents still need to be wary of the narrative being manipulated.

“They will try to convince you that you did not see what you saw,” Barron said in a passionate speech where she used the 1992 beating of Rodney King by four Los Angeles police officers as a cautionary tale.

Marijuana arrests and stop-and-frisk policing were named at the press conference as two instances of over-policing, where officers have been accused of specifically targeting people of color and residents of poor neighborhoods. Councilman Jumaane Williams, who has long been at odds with the proliferation of stop-and-frisk under the previous administration, said that the issue was “the most palpable issue that underlined a pervasive problem in the police department.”

Williams pulled no punches during his remarks, stating that had Garner been a dog he may have received medical assistance sooner than Garner did. The arresting officers, Williams said, represented all that people take issue with when it comes to the NYPD, but added that they are not necessarily emblematic of the department as a whole.

“There are a lot of men and women in the blue uniform who are here to serve their community and I thank them for risking their lives every single day,” Williams said, “but if we do not address the problems within the department it’s going to continue.”