Cop Who Strangled Eric Garner Is Still With the NYPD, Earning Higher Pay Than Ever

By Kings County Politics News Service

BROOKLYN, NY — U.S. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, representing Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy and East New York, demanded Wednesday that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) fire the officers involved in the highly questionable deaths of civilians Eric Garner and Ramarley Graham.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who has a history of disciplinary issues, asphyxiated Eric Garner on a sidewalk in Staten Island in 2014. Garner declared 11 separate times that he could not breathe.

Officer Richard Haste chased 18-year-old Ramarley Graham into his Bronx home and shot him to death in 2012 — a decision one prosecutor called “neither reasonable or justifiable.” Haste was indicted by a grand jury, but the indictment was tossed out because of a prosecutorial mistake.

Both officers have retained their taxpayer-funded jobs and enjoyed significant increases in pay since the horrific deaths of both victims.

Pantaleo was placed on modified desk duty shortly after Garner’s death in 2015. That year, Pantaleo made $105,061 with overtime. In the 2016 fiscal year, he made $119,996 ($23,000 of that was in overtime, while another $12,853 came from “unspecified pay,” which could include bonuses or retroactive pay).

Haste has received nearly $25,000 in raises since killing Graham four years ago. Haste earned a salary of approximately $76,000 in the 2015 fiscal year and received over $2,000 in overtime pay and $10,147 in “other pay.” In the 2012 fiscal year, Haste earned a salary of over $53,000, plus nearly $9,000 in overtime and close to $4,800 in other pay.

“The administration’s coddling of police officers like Daniel Pantaleo and Richard Haste — both of whom took the life of innocent, unarmed African-American men — is unacceptable and unconscionable," Congressman Jeffries said at a Wednesday press conference, flanked by the victims' family members.

"The majority of New York City police officers are hardworking public servants who are in the community to protect and serve," Jeffries said. "However, those police officers who cross the line and take the life of innocent civilians without justification must be held accountable, not rewarded with overtime and bonus pay."

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch called Jeffries' demands un-American.

“In America, individuals, including police officers, are presumed innocent until proven guilty," Lynch said. "Anyone who calls for the firing of a police officer who has not been charged and found guilty of wrong doing is not seeking justice, he is seeking revenge. That is not the American way."

Jeffries, who is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus leadership and House Judiciary Committee, made his comments Wednesday alongside Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner; Constance Malcolm, mother of Ramarley Graham; Kirsten John Foy of the National Action Network's Brooklyn chapter; and Mark Winston-Griffith of the Brooklyn Movement Center.

“The fact that Mayor [Bill] de Blasio’s NYPD gives increased overtime and pay raises to officers who kill our children is disgusting, a betrayal to my family and others — and all New York City taxpayers," Malcolm said. "The excuses continue, and New Yorkers should be asking serious questions about why their mayor is perpetuating the problem of police violence in our city, setting a horrible national example that is shameful."

De Blasio's spokesman, Austin Finan, responded by saying the mayor supports incoming NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill’s ordered review of Pantaleo’s overtime. “These overtime payments raise real concerns, and the mayor agrees this practice deserves a close examination,” Finan said.

Jeffries argued Wednesday that Daniel Pantaleo is Exhibit A for the use of excessive force, and that the time for talk, protocol review and obstruction from the NYPD is over.

“We demand action," Jeffries said. "And the administration can begin by removing officers like Daniel Pantaleo and Richard Haste from the force.”

A version of this article originally appeared on the Kings County Politics news site.