Gaps in discipline found in NYPD chokehold review

The new inspector general for the NYPD has released his first report on the use of chokeholds in the city's police department.  Inspector General Philip Eure and his office, along with an independent

News 12 Staff

Jan 13, 2015, 12:13 AM

Updated 3,615 days ago

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The new inspector general for the NYPD has released his first report on the use of chokeholds in the city's police department. 
Inspector General Philip Eure and his office, along with an independent agency tasked with investigating excessive force claims, found inconsistencies in holding officers accountable for using prohibited chokeholds. 
The inspector general examined 10 confrontations between officers and suspects from 2009 until June 2014 in which an officer was accused of using the illegal move. The review found that in several cases, the maneuver was the officer's initial response to any verbal resistance. 
The report also says that in every instance, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) recommended a penalty, but in six of the 10 cases, the NYPD commissioner imposed a less severe penalty than what was recommended. Seven of the 10 alleged chokeholds happened during the Bloomberg administration. 
The testimony comes amid an internal investigation into Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was not indicted by a grand jury in the apparent chokehold death of Staten Island man Eric Garner. That chokehold case was not included in the inspector general's study. 
As part of the review, the inspector general made several recommendations for the police department, including more transparency with respect to the commissioner's disciplinary decisions, and increased coordination between the NYPD and the CCRB. 
A copy of the report was sent to Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton and the speaker of the City Council. 
The Office of the Inspector General was created in response to public outcry over the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk tactic.