O’Neill called biased vs. sgt.
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.