NEW YORK (AP) - The NYPD is planning to bypass privacy rules and make public the pending outcome of a disciplinary case against a white officer who killed an unarmed black teen.
Police officials told reporters on Wednesday that the case against Officer Richard Haste is too important to keep his penalty secret. That’s a departure from other cases where the department has said it must closely adhere to state laws protecting officers’ disciplinary records.
At an administrative trial ending Monday, police lawyers asked for Haste to be fired for botching police tactics in the shooting of 18-year-old Ramarley Graham in 2012. The officer’s lawyers claimed he opened fire because he mistakenly thought Graham was pulling a gun on him.
A final decision on whether Haste will lose his job or face a lesser punishment is weeks away.
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