[NYAPRS Enews] TODAY: Tell Lawmakers to Support Daniel's Law Pilot!

[Luke Sikinyi]

NYAPRS Note: The killing of Kawaski Trawick was yet another tragic example of how horribly inappropriate sending police as first responders to mental health crises can be. Kawaski was dealing with a crisis and needed support but was shot within two minutes of police arriving at his apartment. Police using violence while responding to mental health crises is a painfully common occurrence. Raul De La Cruz is still in the ICU after police shot him during a similar situation. These preventable tragedies will continue without substantial investment for non-police crisis response units. Passing the Daniel's Law pilot in this year's budget will be a great first step. The $10 million pilot program will pair behavioral health experts and EMTs as first responders to these crises, with the ability to utilize police when absolutely necessary. We must make the need for this program clear to lawmakers. Email your representatives to ask them to include the Daniel's Law pilot program in the final state budget by using this link<https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-the-legislature-to-include-the-10-million-daniels-law-pilot-in-the-fy-24-budget/>!

Family of Bronx Man Killed by Police during Mental Health Crisis Seeks Justice from Watchdog
By Samantha Max | Gothamist | April 12, 2023

The parents of a man killed by police during a mental health crisis in 2019 are preparing for one last chance to hold the officers accountable for taking their son's life.

Four years ago, two NYPD officers knocked on Kawaski Trawick's apartment door in a supportive housing facility in the Bronx, after a security guard called 911 and complained that Trawick was "losing his mind." One of the officers shot and killed him less than two minutes later.

The Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigates complaints against the NYPD, is expected to prosecute Officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis at an administrative trial later this month after investigators from the watchdog agency determined they violated multiple NYPD policies. Thompson, who shot Trawick, faces five charges of excessive force and abuse of authority. Davis faces three charges, including refusal to obtain medical treatment.

Trawick's parents are asking the police commissioner to fire both officers.

"They do not deserve to continue to work as officers for New York City," his mother Ellen Trawick told Gothamist after a rally outside 1 Police Plaza on Wednesday.

Police were dispatched to Trawick's apartment in response to complaints that he was harassing his neighbors and the superintendent after losing his keys, according to a criminal review of the incident. When officers came to his door, footage released by the city following a lawsuit shows he was holding a stick and a serrated knife. Police repeatedly ordered Trawick to drop the knife. Trawick repeatedly asked them why they were in his home.

Thompson used a Taser on Trawick about a minute after arriving. Trawick then ran at the officers, threatening to kill them and asking them to "get out." Thompson fired four shots, killing Trawick, according to the Bronx district attorney's attorney's office.

"It's not right for an officer to just come into a person's home and take their life," Ellen Trawick said. "It's just not right."

The Bronx district attorney's office declined to bring criminal charges against the officers, writing in a 2020 report that it could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the use of force wasn't justified. But the office urged the city to improve mental health training for police and to provide better care for supportive housing residents, to prevent similar situations.

The NYPD said both officers are still on active duty and that the "discipline process is ongoing." The officers' union, the Police Benevolent Association, criticized the CCRB for moving forward with the trial.

"The case was thoroughly investigated by both the Bronx district attorney and the NYPD's Force Investigation Division, which found no evidence of wrongdoing by these police officers," PBA President Patrick Lynch said in a statement. "CCRB is not claiming it has any new evidence that would change those findings."

A civil lawsuit the family filed is still pending.

The city launched a program called B-HEARD, which pairs police with mental health workers. But the teams were only dispatched to just 22% of mental health calls between July 2021 and June 2022, according to the program's latest fiscal report.

Last month, officers in the Bronx shot Raul de la Cruz, 42, after his father called 311 for help while de la Cruz was experiencing a schizophrenic episode. De la Cruz is still in the surgical intensive care unit.

After the CCRB argues its case against the officers and union attorneys mount their defense, a city commissioner who oversees NYPD trials will decide whether Thompson and Davis should face discipline. But the ruling, like all CCRB disciplinary recommendations, is nonbinding. NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell has the final say.

The police commissioner often rejects or downgrades disciplinary recommendations from the CCRB. Out of 755 recommendations for discipline last year, Sewell followed the agency's suggestions in less than half - 42% - of cases, according to the CCRB's latest annual report.

The NYPD argues that it did not seek discipline in many cases because they received recommendations too close to the statute of limitations. CCRB data show the agency only closed eight investigations within three days of the statute of limitations and 16 within five days of the deadline.

The CCRB is working through a backlog of cases, especially in its trial unit, because of a staffing shortage. An administrative trial for the off-duty officer who killed Delrawn Small during a road rage incident in 2016 has still not been scheduled, partly because the officer's attorney blocked the agency's attempts to get his sealed criminal case file. The officer was acquitted in court.

But in some cases, the CCRB's lengthy process has ultimately led to discipline for officers accused of misconduct, even after prosecutors and the NYPD chose not to take action. In 2019, then-Police Commissioner James O'Neill fired Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who put Eric Garner in a chokehold and killed him during a Staten Island arrest more than five years earlier.

The decision to fire Pantaleo came just weeks after the judge who oversaw his CCRB case recommended his termination.

Family of Bronx man killed by police during mental health crisis seeks justice from watchdog - Gothamist<https://gothamist.com/news/family-of-bronx-man-killed-by-police-during-mental-health-crisis-seeks-justice-from-watchdog>


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