Public Safety Commissioner David Chong
announced the suspension of officer Steven Hart and an internal investigation
into misconduct during the Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. shooting last year.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. --
White Plains Police Officer Steven Hart has been suspended without pay and
could face disciplinary action from the department if he is found guilty of
misconduct during the response to a medical alert that ended in the death of
Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. last year, police officials said.
Lawyers for the Chamberlain family have said
audio recordings from the medical alert system, used as evidence in Westchester
County's grand jury investigation, capture Hart, a white officer, using a
racial slur. The grand jury voted not to indict the officer who fatally shot
Chamberlain twice, Anthony Carelli, or any of the other seven officers present.
"I think the suspension without pay is a
good start and I'm hopeful they will reach the determination that his behavior
shows that he was not an appropriate candidate to be a police officer,"
said Mayo Bartlett, one of three lawyers for the Chamberlain family, told The
Daily Voice. "Beyond that we are still hopeful that there will be a
criminal prosecution in this matter."
Public Safety Commissioner David Chong
announced the department served Hart with the charges Friday. If found guilty
of misconduct allegedly committed outside of Chamberlain's home on 135 South
Lexington Ave. in the early morning hours of Nov. 19, 2011, he could face
penalties ranging from a reprimand to dismissal from the Police Bureau,
officials said.
The White Plains Police Department would not
comment further while the charges are pending.
Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore,
said the officer intended to distract Chamberlain with the use of the N-word, a
tactic she condemned.
Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. took issue with that
at the May 7 White Plains Common Council meeting and called for the suspension
of Hart and the seven other officers who responded to his father's apartment
last year. He said when he listened to the audio recordings and heard the
N-word, "that’s not to distract, that was in fact to antagonize and
provoke him," he said.
"I think there is no place for that type
of language or conduct to begin with, but certainly not when the purpose of his
presence was to render medical assistance," Bartlett said.
Chamberlain Sr., 68, was shot by police
officer Anthony Carelli after police responded to a medical alert from Life Aid
that Chamberlain accidentally triggered in the early morning hours of Nov. 19.
During an hour-long standoff at his apartment, Chamberlain Sr. refused to open
his door to allow police to verify his condition.