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NYPD Finally Firing Four Cops Connected To Sean Bell's Death
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Mar 24, 2012
Modified Mar 24, 2012
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Mar 24, 2012
Modified Mar 24, 2012
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Four police officers involved in the 2006 killing of Sean Bell are being forced to resign after a department judge ruled that their actions were improper. According to the Times, Commissioner Ray Kelly made the decision Friday evening. The detective who fired the first shots, Gescard Isnora, will lose his pension. Detectives Marc Cooper and Michael Oliver, who also fired shots at Bell, will receive reduced pensions. Lieutenant Gary Napoli, who was a supervising officer at the scene, will receive a pension. “There was nothing in the record to warrant overturning the decision of the department’s trial judge,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
Prosecutors said that Isnora, who fired 11 shots in a 50-shot barrage on Bell and his friends, used poor judgement in using his weapon and was the cause of "contagious firing" among other officers at the scene.
In 2010, Bell's fiancee Nicole Paultre-Bell said she and her family "are going to do everything possible to see that these police officers are fired," but a source close to the family tells the Post, "There's no joy in [the firings]."
After Detectives Isnora, Cooper and Oliver were acquitted of criminals charges in 2008, Bell's family won a $7.15 million settlement from the city. Sanford Rubenstein, who represented Bell's family, called Kelly's actions "clearly appropriate," and added, "I think the fact that they're no longer on the force is appropriate."
The President of the Detectives' Endowment Association, Michael J. Palladino, countered, “Stripping a police officer of his livelihood and his opportunity for retirement is a punishment reserved for a cop who has turned to a life of crime and disgraces the shield." Palladino added that Isnora's termination was “disgraceful, excessive, and unprecedented.”
A law enforcement official told the Times that Commissioner Kelly's decision "could have a drastic impact on how detectives view their work, particularly in the department’s undercover programs."
Tagged
detectives
jamaica queens
nypd
Ray Kelly
sean bell
shootings
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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