New York State Attorney General is pushing for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to crack down on police killings of unarmed civilians.
Eric T. Schneiderman asked Cuomo to allow his office to begin taking a closer look at cases such as that of
Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who lost his life after a struggle with police officers who were trying to arrest him.
The New York Times reports that Schneiderman also wants New York to enact laws that, he says, would put public confidence back in the criminal justice system.
"When the trust between the police and the communities they serve and protect breaks down, everyone is at risk," he said, according to The Times.
The officer who placed Garner in a chokehold, which medical experts ruled was a contributing factor in his death, will not face criminal charges in the wake of a
grand jury ruling last week.
That came on the heels of another grand jury ruling in Ferguson, Missouri, which declined to indict the officer who shot and killed
Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, during a violent confrontation in August.
In another case, a New York City police officer shot and killed an unarmed, and "totally innocent," black man in the
stairwell of a housing project last month. Police said the officer, a rookie, may have fired his weapon accidentally. A
grand jury will look at the case and determine whether charges should be filed against the officer.
Cuomo's office responded to Schneiderman's request, reports The Times, by saying it would review the proposal.
The governor also is looking into a "broader approach that seeks to ensure equality and fairness in our justice system," Cuomo's communications director Melissa DeRosa told The Times in a statement.
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