File #: Res 0166-2004    Version: * Name: Examine the NYPD's use of arms on vertical patrol and the tactics that led to the tragic death of Timothy Stansbury Jr.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Public Safety
On agenda: 2/26/2004
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon the appropriate Committee of the Council of the City of New York to hold an oversight hearing to examine the New York City Police Department’s use of arms on vertical patrol and the tactics that led to the tragic death of Timothy Stansbury Jr.
Sponsors: Bill Perkins, Erik Martin Dilan, Allan W. Jennings, Jr., Miguel Martinez, Annabel Palma
Council Member Sponsors: 5

Res. No.  166

 

Resolution calling upon the appropriate Committee of the Council of the City of New York to hold an oversight hearing to examine the New York City Police Department’s use of arms on vertical patrol and the tactics that led to the tragic death of Timothy Stansbury Jr. 

 

By Council Members Perkins, Dilan, Jennings, Martinez and Palma

 

Whereas, We must ensure that the residents of the housing developments operated by the city of New York are not the victims of unjustified police action; and

 

Whereas, The process known as vertical patrols, security rounds which officers perform in these buildings, have been called into question due to the tragic death of 19-year-old Timothy Stansbury, Jr., on January 24, 2004; and

 

Whereas, This unarmed African-American teen was shot on the rooftop of the Louis Armstrong House in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn; and

 

Whereas, Although the police officer was not responding to any specific incident, he had his gun drawn, an act which is not against police regulation, but now requires serious scrutiny in light of Mr. Stansbury’s death; and

 

Whereas, As part of this training police officers are taught to use their judgment when deciding whether to have their hand on their gun, or to have the gun drawn and pointed down, or raised, but they are usually cautioned to keep their finger off the trigger; and

 

Whereas, Police guns have a double action trigger meaning they do not have to be cocked before they are fired; and

 

Whereas, According to the New York City Police Department’s Patrol Guide section on vertical patrols of the stairwells and roofs of apartment buildings, there is no mention of drawing a weapon; and

 

                     Whereas, The tactics used when conducting vertical patrols specifically related to when and if an officer draws a weapon should be reviewed; and 

 

Whereas, The act which led to the tragic death of this young teen did not result in an indictment of the police officer by the Brooklyn grand jury, however, Police Commissioner Kelly and approximately 80 community leaders and city lawmakers have stated that the actions of the officer are unjustified; now therefore, be it

 Resolved, That the appropriate Committee of the Council of the City of New York should hold an oversight hearing to examine the New York City Police Department’s use of arms on vertical patrol and the tactics used that led to the tragic death of Timothy Stansbury Jr. 

 

 

MK

LS# 406

2/23/04