New York Daily News

O’Neill called biased vs. sgt.

- Thomas Tracy

THE HEAD of the NYPD sergeant’s union says the city’s top cop is too biased to decide the punishment of a cop acquitted of killing a mentally ill Bronx woman.

Police Commission­er James O’Neill lashed out at Sgt. Hugh Barry in 2016 after Barry was charged with shooting 66-yearold Deborah Danner.

Sergeants’ Benevolent Associatio­n chief Ed Mullins and Barry’s lawyer, Andrew Quinn, say O’Neill should recuse himself from Barry’s disciplina­ry case.

“Sgt. Barry will be denied a fair and unbiased administra­tive hearing given your repeated comments publicly condemning his actions,” Quinn wrote to O’Neill.

An NYPD spokesman said O’Neill “will review this matter fully and fairly, and make a determinat­ion based solely on the merits and facts.”

After he was acquitted in Bronx Supreme Court, Barry was put on modified assignment. He rides a desk without his gun and shield until a disciplina­ry hearing — and, possibly, a department­al trial — is completed.

The NYPD plans to prosecute him for “poor tactical judgment” and “failure to supervise” the officers under his command.

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