Family and members of the
police, military, clergy and White Plains Community packed the White Plains
Common Council chambers Monday night asking for accountability and oversight in
the White Plains Police Bureau.
“We are appalled and
horrified with what appears to be no action taken on behalf of the White Plains
Common Council and Police Commissioner David Chong to seek justice,” said Rev.
Odinga Lawrence Maddox of Mt. Hope A.M.E. Zion Church, at the meeting on behalf
of the Ministers Fellowship Council of White Plains.
Most who attended the
“Citizens to be Heard” portion of meeting were there supporting the family of
Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.—who was shot and killed by White Plains Police on Nov.
19—and White Plains Officer Michael Hannon—who alleges that Assistant Police
Chief Anne FitzSimmons assaulted and impaired him.
Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. is
asking that all of the officers who responded to his 68-year-old father’s
apartment at 135 S. Lexington that night be suspended pending the outcome of a
federal investigation.
The Chamberlain family and
lawyers said that Chamberlain, a heart patient, accidently set off his medical
alert device and was harassed and taunted by police who responded to the call.
They said police had no right to force their way into his apartment, since
Chamberlain repeatedly told police that he was fine and didn’t need assistance.
They said the actions of
the police is what caused Chamberlain to become upset, and lead to his eventual
death.
Police said that they’ve
visited Chamberlain’s apartment before and knew he was emotionally disturbed
and had a criminal background. They said they weren’t sure if there was anyone
else in the apartment, and had to make sure that all was well in the apartment
before they left.
Once police attempted to
break into the apartment, officers reported that Chamberlain threatened them
verbally and with various knives causing police to use a Taser on him, then
fire four bean bag rounds on him, which they said had no effect on him.
According to police reports, Carelli was forced to fatally shot Chamberlain
because he was coming at another officer with a knife.
Commissioner David Chong
said Tuesday that all of the officers’ actions are being investigated
administratively.
Officer Anthony Carelli—who
fatally shot Chamberlain—and Officer Steven Hart—who is accused of calling
Chamberlain the n-word—are on modified desk assignment duty for the time being.
Both officers are involved in separate pending lawsuits, where they are accused
of police brutality in incidents that allegedly also involve race.
Some have alleged that
there is a pattern of abuse and racial discrimination in White Plains, to which
Chong responded, “This department has a very good history of having a good
relationship with the community and that has proved through our crime
statistics and the low crime quality of life.”
Westchester County District
Attorney Janet DiFiore announced last week that there was no reason to indict
city police in the shooting.
“The grand jury has spoken
and we thank them for their due diligence,” said Chong. “Now it’s on me to do
an administrative investigation.”
Chong has said the
administrative investigation will include a review of the officers and their
actions, as well as a look at police policies and procedures—including how they
deal with mentally disturbed individuals.
The U.S. District
Attorney’s Office will review the case, as is customary. The Chamberlain family
said they also plan to file a federal civil rights wrongful death suit against
the City of White Plains.
“The use of offensive terms
by the neighborhood conditions unit, strongly suggest the existence of a bias
mentality,” said Chamberlain Jr., at the meeting. “The lack of a criminal
indictment also sends a message to the minorities of this city that their lives
are worthless.”
DiFiore confirmed that
officers used a racial slur during their encounter with Chamberlain—and
according to The Daily News, said it was used as a tactic to distract
Chamberlain.
Damon Jones, a New York
representative for Blacks in Law Enforcement of America, said that the police
department was in violation of its own policy in both the Chamberlain and
Hannon incidents with the use of racial slurs, and lack of an internal
investigation into FitzSimmons’ alleged actions and the use of violent behavior
(see the attached PDF provided by Jones).
“You can’t expect the
officers to act professionally with citizens and taxpayers in White Plains if
the management of the police department is not setting a good example,” said
Jones “They’re not following their own policy on how an officer should behave
in the White Plains Police Department, so what do we expect if there is no
accountability.”
Click on the video to hear
Hannon’s account of the incident. He currently has a pending lawsuit against
the city. Chong said the incident with FitzSimmons is a personell mater that
the department is investigating, and will make a decision in that incident.
Jones, a correctional
officer, also mentioned that in his 23 years of law enforcement he has disarmed
many individuals who were in better health than Chamberlain and who had
weapons, without having to take their lives.
The director for Occupy
Marines, which represents 30,000 former and current U.S. Marines, Hairo
Gonzalez, a.k.a. HyDro the People’s Hero, also spoke at the meeting saying,
“Myself and the rest of the Marines, we demand justice—and we ain’t playin’.”
Others said they would like
to see justice so that White Plains can heal from this tragic ordeal.
“We’re concerned about the
soul of our city,” said Pastor Edward Williamson of Bethel Baptist Church. “We
are being known as the place where the police shooting took place—and that’s
not the image I would like for us to have as a city. That’s not the image we
would like for our children to have, our youth who we want to cooperate and not
fear police officers—but work with them as partners in the community.”
The White Plains Common
Council approved the commissioning of an independent review panel of experts to
study the White Plains Police Department, the incident, police actions,
procedures and policies.
“We want a conclusion here
of what happened, not just for the family involved, not for the police officers
involved—but for the whole community,” said Roach. “And I can tell you now, the
type of language you are talking about is unacceptable to be said by anybody
who works for this city, but it’s got to go through its process.”
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.