“The Policies That Killed Eric Garner”

As
noted earlier, the cop who put Eric Garner in the chokehold
that led to his death was not indicted by a Staten Island grand
jury. Whatever you think about that, it’s time to examine the
“broken windows” policing policies that contributed to a man dying
after being accused of selling loose cigarettes.

From my
new Daily Beast column:

Garner’s death in July after being placed in a chokehold is not
simply about race. It’s about community policing and the ability of
top brass to enforce restrictions on beat cops’ behavior. As
cell phone footage of the incident makes clear, the police
approached the 43-year-old Garner after he had helped to break up a
fight on a busy street in Staten Island. The cops were less
interested in the fight than in asking Garner whether he was
selling loose cigarettes or “loosies,” which is illegal. “Every
time you see me, you wanna arrest me,” says Garner, who had a
rap sheet for selling loosies and was in fact out on bail when
confronted.

Footage of the incident shows New York Police Department Officer
Daniel Pantaleo placing Garner in the chokehold that was the
main cause of death according to the coroner, who further
ruled the death a “homicide.” (Police at the scene initially
claimed that the asthmatic, 350-pound Garner had suffered a heart
attack). Like Wilson, Pantaleo was not indicted….

There’s little question that New Yorkers support arrests for
low-level offenses. A Quinnipiac Poll of New Yorkers in
August found that 60 percent of respondents agreed that “when a cop
enforces some low-level offense…it improve[s] quality of life.”
Only 34 percent said it increased neighborhood tensions, with “very
little difference among black and white voters.”

Yet clearly something has gone horribly wrong when a man lies
dead after being confronted for selling cigarettes to willing
buyers. Especially since, as even Bratton has acknowledged,
the chokehold applied by the restraining officer is prohibited by
the NYPD’s own rulebook. Does the commissioner really control his
officers, and is it time to rethink nanny state policies that
create flourishing underground markets?

Whole thing here.