(NYPD/Sean Bell) Officer in Bell Killing Is Fired; 3 Others to Be Forced Out

[alp227]

Source: NY Times

The New York City police detective who fired the first shots in the 50-bullet barrage that killed Sean Bell in 2006 has been fired, and three others involved in the shooting are being forced to resign, law enforcement officials said on Friday.

The decision came after a Police Department administrative trial in the fall found that the detective, Gescard F. Isnora, had acted improperly in the shooting that killed Mr. Bell on what was supposed to have been his wedding day and that he should be fired.

(...)

Detective Isnora, an 11-year veteran, will not collect a pension, one official said.

(...)

The shooting of Mr. Bell, 23, who did not have a gun, occurred in the early morning on Nov. 25, 2006, as Mr. Bell and two friends were leaving a strip club in Jamaica, Queens, where they had been celebrating. The case drew widespread scrutiny of undercover police tactics.

Prosecutors questioned the judgment of the shooters, with one arguing in the department’s trial that Detective Isnora overreacted, leading to “contagious firing” from those who followed his cue.

Detective Isnora testified that he thought Mr. Bell and a friend were about to take part in a drive-by shooting. He has said he believed, after overhearing a heated argument in front of the strip club, that the friend had a gun.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/nyregion/in-sean-bell-killing-4-officers-to-be-forced-out.html

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Tanks to Isnora, Bell's daughter has the misfortune of growing up fatherless. Oh yeah, speaking of Trayvon Martin: this article should be required reading for EVERY Sanford, Fla. police officer.

[Blue_Tires]

1. there still should have been jail time...

[DLnyc]

3. I agree.

There really needs to be some kind of independent process for trying these cases. The district attorney depends on the police every day to make his (or occassionally her) cases -- no way they will aggressively pursue these kinds of cases.

[Ash_F]

5. They were allowed to wave their right to a jury.

They did and the Judge let them go of course. Great system we have here.

[Deep13]

2. That's a good start.

When the same thing happened in Boston in 1775, the soldiers involved stood trial for murder, and they were facing a hostile and threatening crowd.

[tooeyeten]

6. Six years later?

what kind of justice is this?

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. Now, how about some justice for Ramarley Graham?

He's the 18-year-old black kid recently shot and killed by an NYPD narc after the narc chased him into his own home and shot him in his own bathroom, where he was trying to flush a small bag of weed down the toilet.

NYPD needs a thorough housecleaning. Who is in charge of these goons?