The death of Eric Garner shocked New York and City Hall

Ten years ago, the death of Eric Garner by NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo on Staten Island shocked the city and City Hall.

Garner died after being placed in a chokehold. The incident was captured on a cell phone camera. In the aftermath, calls for greater accountability from the NYPD grew. Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio attempted to meet these demands, despite having only been in office for a few months.

A month after Garner’s death, de Blasio gathered the police chief, religious leaders and civil rights activists for a press conference to discuss the case, just before a large march on Staten Island.

During his first election campaign, de Blasio made improving police-community relations a central theme of his campaign. The death of Eric Garner became a much-publicized test of the new mayor’s commitment.

“Bill de Blasio was shocked, but there were certain things he couldn’t get done about the criminal justice system,” said Reverend Al Sharpton.

Despite enormous pressure from the streets to City Hall, in December 2014 a Staten Island grand jury reviewed the evidence and decided not to indict Pantaleo.

Sharpton believes that “Staten Island politicians did not want to prosecute the police.” In 2019, federal prosecutors also declined to bring charges against Pantaleo.

Fred Davie, former chairman of the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, believes that “the CCRB was something like the last chance for justice for the Garner family.”

An investigation by the CCRB resulted in disciplinary action against Officer Pantaleo at 1 Police Plaza.

“It was clear to us that at least one of the charges in this case had to be excessive force, and that’s what we filed,” Davie said. “The judge agreed with us that Officer Pantaleo committed excessive force.”

In 2019, Pantaleo was fired from the NYPD.

Ten years after Garner’s death, Sharpton believes that police accountability and transparency in New York “have improved a little, but are far from sufficient.”