Officer quits to avoid firing after shooting of unarmed teen
NEW YORK (AP) — A white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager resigned Sunday from the New York Police Department to avoid being fired following a disciplinary trial in a case that sparked outrage over police use of deadly force against black men and boys.
Graham's shooting death in 2012 came before a spate of highly publicized killings by police, such as the deaths of Michael Brown, Walter Scott and Eric Garner, that helped propel the topic into the spotlight.
How is my youngest son supposed to trust and believe in cops when he saw they murdered his brother in front of him and there is zero accountability?
In his testimony during the departmental trial, Haste, now 35, recounted how he got out of his police van during a drug probe in Graham's Bronx neighborhood and followed the teenager, suspected on police radio chatter of having a gun, into his apartment building.
De Blasio added that his administration has taken steps to strengthen the relationship between police and the community and increase transparency.