Brass must testify
Judge orders NYPD bigs to spill on Garner
An unusual court inquiry into the NYPD killing of Eric Garner will feature testimony by a prominent police union boss as well as high-ranking police officials in Internal Affairs and communications.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Erika Edwards ruled Friday that Police Benevolent Association boss Pat Lynch, former Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Phil Walzak and Deputy Commissioner of Internal Affairs Joseph Reznick must take the stand in the inquiry.
Mayor de Blasio, as well as current and former police commissioners Bill Bratton, James O’Neill and Dermot Shea, do not have to testify in the inquiry, the judge ruled.
The proceeding, which was demanded by Garner’s mother Gwen Carr and others, aims to bring transparency to the circumstances surrounding the 2014 police killing of Garner, as well as its aftermath. Garner’s disturbing death, captured on video, sparked protests around the country and inspired the Black Lives Matter movement.
“It’s been seven years since Eric was murdered, and in spite of what Mayor de Blasio has said to me personally or to New Yorkers, he and other top city officials are still blocking transparency, but now the court has ordered them to finally turn over information,” Carr said. “The refusal to fully investigate and discipline officers for misconduct goes all the way to the top levels of city government.”
The hearing will begin Oct. 25.
“We’re pleased that the court recognized that there was no reason to compel the mayor, current and former police commissioners, or other high ranking officials to testify because they were not directly involved in the incident. The city has already provided tens of thousands of records to the petitioners in response to FOIL requests and so much other information about this incident is already publicly available,” Law Department spokesman Nick Paolucci said.
The judge also ordered the NYPD to produce internal records regarding whether there was probable cause to arrest Garner, if the force used on him was justified, whether information on Garner’s sealed arrests was improperly leaked, and other information.
The inquiry is allowed under a rarely invoked provision in the City Charter rooted in the corruption of the Boss Tweed era in the late 19th century.
A recent Appellate Division decision noted only two other cases where people sought a hearing under the law, which was first enacted in 1873. One of its aims, the court wrote, is “to allow concerned citizens to get answers when city officials violated or neglected their duties.”