Journal of Social Service Research

For Peer Review Only

The Eric Garner Case: Statewide surv ey of NY voters’ response to proposed legislation

Journal: Journal of Social Service Research

Manuscript ID WSSR-2016-0057.R2

Manuscript Type: Research Article

Eric Garner, “I can’t breathe”, Cuomo's Executive Order, Black Lives Keywords: Matter, Excessive force/, NY Statewide Survey

URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 1 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 4 5 6 The Eric Garner Case: 7 Statewide survey of NY voters’ response to proposed police accountability legislation 8 9 10 11 Sara A. Snyder, Saeed Rahman, Jamie K. Hamilton, Hana T. Hamdi, 12 Columbia Epidemiology of Human Rights Study Group, 13 Anjoli Anand, Anna Andel, Laurene Barlet, Juliana L. Bennington, Cyril Bennouna, Chris B. Boyer, 14 Matthew Cato,For Eric Cioe-Pena, Peer Courtney A. Review Clark, Mary Crippen, Justine Only Dowden, Jennifer B. Fearon, 15 Lorraine Fei, Angie Hamouie, Ian R. Kurashige, Samina Lutfeali, Kathryn Martin, Ramón Millán, 16 Adrienne Pizatella, Maria C. Quinn, Kate Ross-Hopley, Emily Wilkinson Salamea, Kaitlin Shaw, 17 Mallory C. Sheff, Priyam Thind, Anaise M. Williams, 18 19 and Les Roberts 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Corresponding Author: [email protected] 34 35 36 37 38 39

40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Acknowledgments: We would like to thank all Epidemiological Methods for Measuring Human Rights 51 Abuses 2015-2016 students for their contributions to this work. 52

53 54 Funders: None to claim 55 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 2 of 37

1 2 3 Abstract 4 5 6 The Eric Garner case was unique because this police-induced death was caught on video from before the 7 8 moment of physical confrontation. A mixed-methods representative household survey and Garner’s arrest 9 10 video were used to determine NYS voters’ opinions (n=119) about police indictment and Governor 11 12 Cuomo’s request for expanded authority. Respondents were asked the officers should face indictment, 13 14 shown the arrestFor video, and thenPeer asked again Reviewabout indictment. Prior toOnly the video (n=86), a majority of 15 16 respondents (57.4%) believed involved officers should have been indicted. After viewing, the proportion 17 18 19 increased by 13.7%. A majority support Cuomo’s call for expanded authority to appoint a special 20 21 prosecutor in cases where police are involved in civilian deaths. Study limitations include: prior exposure 22 23 to the footage and a low response rate. NYS voters generally support Cuomo’s proposal for appointing 24 25 special prosecutors; however, a quarter of respondents disagreed with the method of reform and expressed 26 27 either a: preference for every case to go to trial, preference for a case-by-case basis, and distrust in state- 28 29 appointed special prosecutors. This research could inform discussions regarding proposed system 30 31 32 reforms. Future research with a less well-circulated video is needed to determine the extent to which 33 34 videos of police-induced deaths affect public opinion. 35 36 37 38 Key Words: Eric Garner, (NYS) statewide survey, “I can’t breathe,” Cuomo’s Executive 39 40 Order, Excessive force/Police brutality, 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 3 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 Introduction 4 5 6 Civil rights in America are still under fire (Valdez, 2015). Peaceful protests are met with state- 7 8 sanctioned violence as police acquittals or lack of indictments follow the deaths of unarmed civilians 9 10 (Zach, 2015). Black lives in America have been historically undervalued. During enslavement, Black 11 12 lives were used as a commodity and were then viewed as a frivolity during Jim Crow. Critical Race 13 14 Theory (CRT) positsFor that Black Peer people face inequityReview within public service Only entities due to American 15 16 institutions being constructed on notions of White supremacy (Crenshaw, 1995). Advances made during 17 18 19 the Civil Rights Movement were instrumental in Black individuals gaining access to social institutions 20 21 (education, voting rights, fair housing, immigration/nationality), but skin color still adversely affects the 22 23 Black community today disproportionate to other racial groups (Penner & Dovidio, 2016). 24 25 This disparity between Black Americans and other racial groups is particularly evident in the 26 27 criminal justice system. Black people comprise 37.7% of America’s incarcerated (U.S. Federal Bureau of 28 29 Prisons, 2016), but only 13.3% of America’s total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015a), making a 30 31 32 Black American 5.1 times more likely to be incarcerated than a White American. Almost a quarter of US 33 34 states (12) have a prison population that is majority Black (Nellis, 2016). Furthermore, Black 35 36 neighborhoods are still targets of illegal police quotas (Bronstein, 2014), and Black people are 3.7 times 37 38 more likely to be arrested for drug offenses than Whites (HRW, 2009). Some scholars attribute these 39 40 disparities to the ‘roots of poverty, while others postulate that these numbers are the product of racial 41 42 profiling and fear of ‘the other’ (The Sentencing Project, 2013; Mitchell & Caudy, 2015). 43 44 45 Even within the police force, Black officers are affected by a dualism of Blackness and political 46 47 pressure to be “proactive” in crime drops (what some refer to as the CompStat era). The New York Police 48 49 Department’s (NYPD) Edwin Raymond has spoken out about his department’s use of “inherently racist” 50 51 police tactics such as: illegal quotas, “quality of life” offenses, and disproportionate department 52 53 recognition for arrests over protective acts - Broken Windows strategy 1. In 2015, Raymond joined 11 of 54 55 56 1 Broken Windows Theory (BWT) is the idea of police ‘cracking down’ on smaller crimes to prevent major ones, 57 particularly in more anonymous locations such as urban areas. BWT postulates a socially communicative effect of 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 4 of 37

1 2 3 his police colleagues (by submitting audio recordings of conversations with a superior) in a class-action 4 5 6 lawsuit on behalf of officers of color in the department who had been refused promotions for not 7 8 participating in tactics to obtain numbers-driven arrests (Knafo, 2016). The case is still open before Judge 9 10 Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of NY (Docket No. 15-CV-6885; U.S. District Court 11 12 Southern District of NY, 2015). 13 14 Police Use of Deadly/LethalFor PeerForce Review Only 15 16 According to the US Supreme Court (Tennessee vs. Garner; 471 US.1), deadly force is only to be 17 18 19 used in cases where it is “necessary to prevent escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that 20 21 the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others" 22 23 (Community Relations Service, 1999). Empirical evidence on the police use of lethal force is limited, but 24 25 media headlines and lived experiences tell us that excessive force, and deadly action, are dominate 26 27 today’s narrative of police-civilian interactions. 28 29 Amnesty International (AI) recently published a scathing report detailing America’s lack of 30 31 32 compliance to international lethal force laws -- all 50 states are below the international standard, and 33 34 some are in violation of US constitutional law. In addition to a nation-wide review of lethal force (by 35 36 police officers) laws, AI also demands the USA adhere to accountability measures (AI, 2015) in 37 38 accordance with the United Nations (UN) Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law 39 40 Enforcement Officials (1990), Violent Crime Control and Enforcement Act (U.S. 103rd Congress, 1994), 41 42 Death in Custody Act (U.S. 113th Congress, 2013), and urges the congressional passing of the Police 43 44 45 Reporting Information, Data, and Evidence (PRIDE) Act. 46 47 A recent case-analysis on deadly force cases in lower federal courts revealed excessive police 48 49 force is a byproduct of department disorganization and managerial meltdowns (Lee & Vaughn, 2010). 50 51 Miller suggests that the disproportionality of non-White police deadly force victims to be more a result of 52 53 54 environments – those that are clean/maintained indicate a sense of monitoring and may deter unruly behavior; 55 whereas environments with broken windows, graffiti, addicts, and prostitutes indicate a lack of monitoring and a 56 lesser chance of being held accountable for smaller (and ultimately larger) crimes. The theory was experimentally 57 tested by Philip Zimbardo in 1969, and introduced into popular press by James Wilson and George Kelling in 1982. 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 5 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 neighborhood lines, i.e. those with more crime, than skin color (Miller, 2015). Klinger and colleagues 4 5 6 used a neighborhood-level study and census tract data to map nine years of officer-involved shooting 7 8 incidents in St. Louis. While shootings tended to occur in low-income Black neighborhoods with White 9 10 officers, they found the level of firearm violence - not race, neighborhood, or socioeconomic status - to be 11 12 strongly associated with police or officer shootings (OIS). The authors conclude their paper with a 13 14 delineation of howFor a national Peer OIS database couldReview be constructed, as to Onlyallow for transparency and greater 15 16 understanding of police force factors (Klinger, Rosenfeld, Isom, & Deckard, 2016). A centralized 17 18 19 database would provide a platform for data accountability and would ideally go beyond the Federal 20 21 Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) “justifiable homicides” to include all incidents of police force, not just 22 23 fatalities (Alpert, 2016). After a series of high profile civilian deaths due to police force, President Barack 24 25 Obama established The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing in December 2014. The task 26 27 force comprised six pillars 2 aimed at improving law enforcement interaction with communities and 28 29 civilians (Ramsey & Robinson, 2015). 30 31 32 Watchdog Journalism 33 34 As it stands, the US government does not release information about internal investigations after 35 36 the use of lethal force, and none of the existing national databases (including the FBI's ‘justifiable’ 37 38 homicide reports and the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) National Vital Statistics and Violent Death 39 40 Reporting Systems) currently reports on cases of lethal force that were not deemed justifiable. Some 41 42 reasons for this absence are perceived rarity of incidents and a desire to protect police officers (White, 43 44 45 2016). This lack of transparency has led to public outcry and public response. Currently, there are no 46 47 formalized oversight or accountability mechanisms that monitor a police department’s use of lethal force; 48 49 instead, data comes from researchers, news outlets, and NGOs that have created monitoring mechanisms 50 51 for civilian deaths due to police force. 52 53 Utilizing Multiple Systems Estimation (MSE) techniques, the NGO Human Rights Data Analysis 54 55 56 2 Six Task Force Pillars: (1) building trust & legitimacy; 2) policy & oversight; 3) technology & social media; 4) 57 community policing & crime reduction; 5) training & education; and 6) officer wellness & safety) 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 6 of 37

1 2 3 Group (HRDAG) estimated that there are 1,500 officer-involved lethal shootings yearly (Gershman & 4 5 6 Cohen, 2014). This number represents about 8-10% of all homicides in the United States (US) during the 7 8 time period analyzed. When including only homicides committed by strangers, the proportion of 9 10 homicides committed by the police jumps to 30% of homicides each year (Ball, 2016). The collaborative 11 12 research team Mapping Police Violence (2015) aggregated data from three websites to create a 13 14 geographic informationFor system Peer (GIS) that visually Review displays where police Only fatal force incidents have 15 16 occurred in the US. Fatal Encounters (FE) is an organization that has compiled a national database of 17 18 19 civilian fatalities due to police force since 2000 (Burghart, 2016). In 2015, and Washington 20 21 Post joined in monitoring police fatal force incidents. The Guardian’s The Counted (2016) has 22 23 documented 749 people who have been shot and killed by the police in 2016 up to the time of this 24 25 writing. ’s Fatal Force (2016) has documented 667 cases and was only able to 26 27 identify the names of officers in 2 out of every 5 cases. 3 The New York think tank Center for Police 28 29 Equity (CPE) produced a report that compiled five years of police force incidents (19,000) in 11 major US 30 31 32 cities. Findings revealed force was used rarely (<2% of cases) but was disproportionately used against 33 34 Blacks compared to Whites (3.6 times higher). The top three methods of force between 2011-2015 were: 35 36 tasers, physical restraint, and pepper spray. Across all uses of force methods during arrest, the rate of 37 38 force was higher against Blacks than Whites (Goff, Lloyd, Geller, Raphael, & Glaser, 2016). 39 40 Technology Sound: Police Killings & Civilian Documentation 41 42 Documentation of the use of excessive force by the police has changed with the introduction of 43 44 45 new technologies. In 1991, Rodney King was involved in a high-speed chase with the Los Angeles Police 46 47 Department (LAPD); once he stopped his car, King was dragged out and severely beaten by four White 48 49 officers. The entire altercation was caught on home video and led to a grand jury; only to have police 50 51 manipulate the frame-by-frame footage and each of the four officers receive acquittals (Stuart, 2011). 52 53 This injustice was met with a six-day riot in LA during which over 1000 people were injured and over 50 54 55 56 3 Each of the aforementioned sources have their data publically available for download and are numbers from the 57 time. Listed statistics are from 8 September 2016. 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 7 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 people were killed (Capehart, 2015). Two and a half decades later, America continues to face videos of 4 5 6 unarmed Black men dying at the hands of the police. The advent of accessible, portable technology and 7 8 cell phones equipped with cameras has changed the way Americans see police brutality on a literal level 9 10 (Shaw, 2012). 11 12 Thousands of lethal force civilian fatalities have occurred since the world was struck by King’s 13 14 excessive beating.For A small minorityPeer of these includReviewe: Amadou Diallo, anOnly unarmed Guinean immigrant 15 16 who was shot 41 times in his Bronx apartment for the suspicion of having a gun and potentially being 17 18 19 associated with a robbery (23 y.o.; 1999); Robert Mitchell, an unarmed teenager who was tased with 20 21 50,000 volts of electricity and killed for fleeing a traffic stop (16 y.o.; 2009); , an unarmed 22 23 teenager visiting his father in a gated community who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer for 24 25 suspicious behavior (17 y.o., 2012); Rekia Boyd, a young, unarmed woman who was shot in the back of 26 27 the head by an off duty detective for being too loud with her friends in an alley (22 y.o., 2012); Tamir 28 29 Rice, a child who was shot twice in the torso by police and did not receive any first aid for holding a toy 30 31 32 gun (12 y.o., 2014); Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager who was shot at least six times by an officer 33 34 who said Brown “looked like a demon” when approaching the officer after being blocked by his vehicle 35 36 for reportedly stealing cigarillos (18 y.o., 2014); Sandra Bland, a young woman driving home from a job 37 38 interview who was pulled over for a traffic stop, arrested, and later found dead in her cell (28 y.o., 2015). 39 40 And most recently in the media at the time of this writing (July 2016), Alton Sterling and Philando 41 42 Castile. Sterling was pinned to the ground and shot three times in the chest by police for reports of having 43 44 45 a gun. Castile was shot inside his car while reaching for his license. Both incidents were video recorded. 46 47 A recent Bloomberg poll speculates that White Americans are more likely to agree with police indictment 48 49 if lethal force incidents are video recorded (Lopez, 2014). found that charging police 50 51 officers for fatal shootings is rare, but video evidence can be the difference between indictments and 52 53 cover-ups (Bialik, 2016). For this reason, Campaign Zero (2016) advocates for body cameras on police 54 55 officers. 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 8 of 37

1 2 3 Black Lives Matter Movement 4 5 6 The Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement is an international activist group that has been 7 8 instrumental in bringing police brutality and lethal force cases to the forefront of world news. Their roots 9 10 began after the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer. BLM’s scope is not solely Black lives lost at the 11 12 hands of police, but also includes addressing how systemic racism (Jee-Lyn García & Sharif, 2015) has 13 14 “left Black peopleFor powerless Peer at the hands of theReview state” (BLM, 2016). TheOnly group has used social media 15 16 extensively to spread its message of racialized police violence and the necessity of dialogue, frequently 17 18 19 with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. BLM has been credited with providing a new narrative to policy 20 21 makers: one that is focused not only on equity, but also on the public health necessity of addressing law 22 23 enforcement failures (Porter, 2015). 24 25 Eric Garner Case: “I can’t breathe” 26 27 The NYPD’s 120 th precinct lies on the northern quarter of in New York City 28 29 (NYC). In the months leading up to the events of July 17 th , 2014 the precinct had received a number of 30 31 32 quality of life complaints concerning groups of men loitering and selling cigarettes and drugs in the

33 th 34 neighborhood of Tompkinsville. On July 17 , Lieutenant Christopher Bannon noted a group of men 35 36 congregating as he drove by a local hotspot for criminal complaints and ordered a pair of plainclothes 37 38 officers to investigate. The area around Tompkinsville Park where police were dispatched, had, according 39 40 to , “already that year been the site of at least 98 arrests, 100 criminal court 41 42 summonses, 646 calls to 911 and nine complaints to 311” (Baker, Goodman, & Mueller, 2015). Amongst 43 44 45 the group of men was a man named Eric Garner, who was well known in the community and to local 46 47 officers. 48 49 As officers approached Eric Garner and made it clear that they meant to arrest him, Garner 50 51 became frustrated and told the officers, “Don’t touch me please,” and demanded to know why he was 52 53 being singled out and harassed. Over the two-minute discussion prior to the attempted arrest, the officers 54 55 occasionally endeavored to take hold of his wrists and arms. A civilian bystander filmed the scene. After 56 57 58 backup arrived from the precinct, officer Daniel Pantaleo, one of the original plainclothes officers, swung 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 9 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 one arm over Garner’s shoulder and around his neck, and the other under his arm, and twisted him to the 4 5 6 ground. The video recorded six officers closing in and handcuffing Garner while he lay prone (Goodman,

7 4 8 2016). Garner repeated, “I can’t breathe” 11 times before becoming unresponsive (Mathias, 2014). 9 10 Officer Pantaleo’s hold around his neck and the weight of the arresting officers on his back were later 11 12 implicated by the city medical examiner in his death (Shallwani, 2014)5. 13 14 At 3:32For PM, officers Peer called for emergency Review medical services despite Only reporting later that Garner 15 16 “did not appear to be in great distress” (Baker at al., 2015). A second call was lodged about a minute and 17 18 19 a half later. Both calls were labeled as “unknown,” a low priority. The ambulance arrived about five 20 21 minutes later, but the medical response has been criticized as anemic and disorganized once additional 22 23 bystander footage became public shortly after Garner’s death (Mueller, 2014). About four minutes after 24 25 the EMTs arrived, Garner was lifted into the ambulance. At 3:44PM, the emergency level was upgraded 26 27 to the highest alert, “Segment 1,” because Mr. Garner was in cardiac arrest. It is not clear when he had 28 29 stopped breathing or entered cardiac arrest. At 4:34PM, after transport to the Richmond University 30 31 32 Medical Center, Garner was declared dead (Baker et al., 2015). Initially, all personnel involved were 33 34 suspended without pay; since then all have returned to their regular responsibilities, except one EMT still 35 36 on “modified duty” (Democracy Now, 2016). 37 38 Officer Pantaleo’s chosen method of incapacitation has come under significant scrutiny and is a 39 40 point of contention in the legal and civil discussion around Garner’s death (Downs, 2015). The officer and 41 42 a number of organizations representing NYPD, as well as various experts and citizens across the country 43 44 45 have insisted that the maneuver used by the officer was not a “chokehold” (Coscarelli, 2014; Goodman & 46 47 Wilson, 2014). In contrast, various city officials, including Mayor de Blasio, NYPD Commissioner 48 49 Bratton, and the city medical examiner responsible for the autopsy have referred to it as such, an opinion 50 51 shared by many experts, elected officials, citizens, and activists (Goldstein & Schweber, 2014; Mays, 52 53 2014). Chokeholds have been banned within the NYPD since 1993 and were only permitted in life- 54 55 56 4 Communities United for Police Reform had 11 Days of Actions and a demand 11 demands, one for each time 57 Garner said, “I can’t breathe.” http://www.thisstopstoday.org/ 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 10 of 37

1 2 3 threatening situations up to eight years prior to the ban (Fischer, 1993). The NYPD has long recognized 4 5 6 that the maneuver is “potentially lethal and unnecessary” (Friedersdorf, 2014). Unfortunately, chokeholds 7 8 are still used frequently and the officers who are found to have employed them are rarely punished 9 10 (Goodman et al., 2014). The use of the chokehold is not itself illegal according to laws of NYC or New 11 12 York State (NYS) and the Mayor, in agreement with Commissioner Bratton, has said he will veto any city 13 14 council bill designedFor to make Peer them so. Appendix Review 1 displays a full timeline Only of Eric Garner’s death. 15 16 Cuomo’s Executive Order (No. 147) in Practice 17 18 19 The death of Eric Garner was what the Fifth Amendment considers an “infamous” event, and 20 21 therefore instigated a grand jury. The purpose of a grand jury is to have a preliminary (sealed) hearing to 22 23 determine if there is enough evidence to bring criminal charges (R. W., 2014). Directly after the grand 24 25 jury’s failure to indict in Staten Island (the Eric Garner Case; Fagan, & Harcourt, 2014), NYS Attorney 26 27 General Eric Schneiderman asked Cuomo for the power to investigate and prosecute cases in which a 28 29 police officer is responsible for the death of an unarmed civilian (NYS Office of the Attorney General, 30 31 32 2014). The Governor expressed his willingness to issue an executive order that empowered Schneiderman 33 34 to do just that, but declined to do so immediately, looking first to push the reform through the legislature 35 36 (Valasquez & Paybarah, 2015). As the months passed and pressure from activists and victims’ families 37 38 mounted, it became clear that the Governor would be unable to organize and rally lawmakers to a passing 39 40 vote before the legislative session came to an end. On July 8 th , 2015 Cuomo issued Executive Order 147 41 42 (NYS Office of the Governor, 2016). 6 Under the order, the Attorney General, as special prosecutor, is 43 44 45 required to investigate, and if necessary bring to trial, cases in which a police officer is responsible for the 46 47 death of an unarmed or questionably armed and dangerous civilian. The special prosecutor and his or her 48 49 office supplant the local District Attorney who is relegated to whatever role (up to and including none) 50 51 the special prosecutor feels is appropriate (NYS Office of the Governor, 2015). 52 53 54 5 Autopsy reports of Eric Garner’s death have not been made public 55 6 In a year period since the creation of Executive Order 147, EO underwent five amendment processes. 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 11 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 The assignment of non-local or “special” prosecutors to cases involving potential wrongdoing by 4 5 6 police officers has been considered for many years and in many different locales (Eisen, 2015). In NYS, 7 8 certain members of the legislature have been working towards a similar bill for over 10 years, but the 9 10 effort thus far has been stymied. In Cuomo’s 2015 State of the State address, the governor laid out a broad 11 12 seven-point plan for reforming and strengthening New York’s criminal justice system. One of these 13 14 points called onFor legislators toPeer pass a law establis Reviewhing an “independent monitorOnly who will review police 15 16 cases where a civilian dies and no true bill is issued and …can recommend a special prosecutor he 17 18 19 appointed. The independent monitor should have access to the grand jury information” (Cuomo, 2015). 20 21 Since then, a bill (A06509) sponsored by Keith Wright (D) of Harlem passed the Assembly, but failed in 22 23 the Senate without coming to a vote. The companion bill (S05592), sponsored in the Senate by Ruth 24 25 Hassell-Thompson (D) of the Bronx, has been under consideration in the Finance Committee since 26 27 January 2016. The current versions of the bill call for the creation of an Office of Special Investigation 28 29 headed by a Deputy Attorney General appointed by the State Attorney General. This appointee would be 30 31 32 empowered in the same ways and in the same situations as the special prosecutor is by Cuomo’s current 33 34 executive order. In cases where actions by a NYS officer are under review, the bill calls for a local 35 36 superior county court to appoint a special prosecutor unaffiliated with the local District Attorney’s Office 37 38 or the State Attorney General’s Office. Also included are provisions for a stronger judicial presence as 39 40 part of the grand jury proceedings and a relaxation of the strictures against releasing any information 41 42 about the grand jury proceedings, the instructions to the jury, and evidence submitted (NYS Assembly, 43 44 45 2015b). 46 47 The passage of recent incarnations of the bill have been stalled by partisan divisions as well as a 48 49 strong desire by some Upstate legislators to see a regional special prosecutor from the area appointed in 50 51 place of a single statewide official, according to the Governor's office (Valasquez & Paybarah, 2015). 52 53 Lawmakers cite concerns about exceptions that the reform makes to the lawful secrecy provisions that 54 55 surround a grand jury’s deliberations and minutes, as well as the fact that no budgetary provision has been 56 57 58 made for the creation of a new advisory position and associated office (Hamilton & Valasquez, 2016). 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 12 of 37

1 2 3 The Governor continues to encourage the legislature to pass a bill that would codify the reform as 4 5 6 permanent state law, as the executive order expires and must be renewed on a yearly basis (NYS Office of 7 8 the Governor, 2016). The reform and its associated potential laws have been roundly criticized by police 9 10 representatives and district attorneys across the state, while many activists, criminal justice reform 11 12 advocates, and other legal experts have applauded the government's response (Remnick, 2015; Roy, 13 14 2015). In the contextFor of a charged Peer public debate Review on policing and justice Only in the US, this legislation 15 16 addressing one small part of the conversation has been under consideration in the legislature for more 17 18 19 than a year. 20 21 With strong opinions to be found in every corner of the state, it is far from clear what the will of 22 23 the people actually is. It was to this end that a survey was conducted to ascertain the attitudes of New 24 25 York State voters concerning Garner’s death and the prosecutorial reforms that were temporarily dictated 26 27 by the Governor, and now lie before the elected representatives of the people of New York. The purpose 28 29 of this study was twofold: 1) to determine what affect the video had on voters’ opinion on whether or not 30 31 32 the arresting officers should face trial; and 2) to determine if NYS voters want to make Governor 33 34 Cuomo’s reform permanent. 35 36 Methods 37 38 Sampling 39 40 To obtain a representative sample of registered voters in NYS, the authors conducted a modified, 41 42 30-cluster design 7 using population data from the 2010 Census. This was conducted first at the county 43 44 45 level (62 counties in NYS), followed by the random selection of 30 clusters with population proportional

46 8 47 to sample size (via a sampling interval ). Five registered voters were selected from each cluster for an 48 49 intended total sample of 150 NYS voters. Counties were arranged alphabetically, and clusters were 50 51 selected through systematic, equal-step sampling. Our sample resulted in counties representative of the 52 53 54 7 30 cluster design is used globally for immunization and nutrition surveys 55 8 The sampling interval was found by dividing the total 2010 New York State population (19,378,102) by the 56 number of clusters (30). 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 13 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 upstate and NYC metropolitan areas’ population distribution, making stratifying by ‘upstate-downstate’ 4 5 6 unnecessary. Due to low response rates, data was gathered from 119 of the intended 150 voters. 7 8 Interview teams attempted to contact the 150 voters in the sample via phone prior to the 9 10 interview; however, attempts to contact individuals were often unsuccessful due to outdated phone 11 12 numbers, changes in address, and unanswered lines. An alternative household selection method was 13 14 devised by usingFor a random Peernumber generator Review to select an index household Only from our sampling frame of 15 16 registered voters within the counties selected during the original sampling process. Interviewers then went 17 18 19 in person to the index household and asked if a NYS registered voter was available and willing to be 20 21 interviewed. From this household, interviewers would systematically move to the next household on the 22 23 left (facing the street) asking for registered voters willing to interview, until the requisite voters (five per 24 25 cluster) had been completed for that county. 26 27 If households refused to participate, no follow-up contact was made. If households did not have a 28 29 NYS registered voter present, interviewers did not conduct the survey. If registered NYS voters agreed to 30 31 32 participate, they provided verbal consent and were given a copy of the consent form. Graduate students

33 st th 34 conducted interviews from April 1 to April 13 , 2016. 35 36 Interview Instrument and Arrest Video 37 38 Interviewers used a 10-item mixed-methods survey in conjunction with Eric Garner’s arrest 39 40 video. The survey began with a brief description of the Eric Garner case; the first three questions 41 42 addressed if the respondent had: 1) been previously familiar with the case; 2) seen video footage of the 43 44 45 arrest and; 3) if they thought the officers should face trial. Our key question (B5) asked respondents if 46 47 they agreed with Governor Cuomo’s proposal to make Executive Order No. 147 permanent. To 48 49 accommodate for various levels of relevant legal knowledge, we included a brief background on the grand 50 51 jury process before posing the question, and also verbally stated four possible response options. The final 52 53 question set was demographic: 1) self-identified race/ethnicity; 2) approximate age; and 3) months/years 54 55 lived at current address. Appendix 2 displays all non-demographic questionnaire items. 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 14 of 37

1 2 3 Eric Garner’s arrest video was retrieved from the ’ website in mp4 format 4 5 6 (Murray, Burke, Marcius, & Parascandola, 2014). A bystander, , released his recording of 7 8 Garner’s arrest to NY Daily News. We selected this clip because it was the most complete footage, the 9 10 most publicized, and from the source of first release. The 51-second clip shows Eric Garner’s interaction 11 12 with six police officers, including Officer Pantaleo – the officer who put Garner in a chokehold. 13 14 Procedure For Peer Review Only 15 16 Once interviewers arrived to a door with a NY registered voter willing to participate, they were 17 18 19 instructed to read each survey question verbatim, while a scribe documented respondents’ answers and 20 21 made any additional notes. During the course of the survey, respondents were shown a 51-second video, 22 23 with audio, of Eric Garner’s interaction with the police. The video was shown to respondents on the 24 25 interviewer’s laptop or tablet. Before showing the clip, respondents were warned of the potentially violent 26 27 content and were told they could stop the film at any time. If this was the case, interviewers noted video 28 29 stop time. If respondents asked not to see the video, interviewers made a note and indicated video stop 30 31 32 time at 00:00. After interviewers completed the survey, respondents were asked if they had any further 33 34 remarks on the topic. Once questions were addressed and remarks noted, respondents were given a copy 35 36 of the consent form with the project coordinator’s contact information. The Institutional Review Board 37 38 approved this study. All procedures were carried out as outlined in the approved protocol. 39 40 Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses 41 42 The survey data were entered into Qualtrics Software, and analyzed using a mixed-methods 43 44 45 approach. SAS 9.4 and Dedoose 7.0.21 were used for the quantitative and qualitative analyses, 46 47 respectively. Based on the 119 participants, response frequencies were conducted for survey results and 48 49 Pearson chi-squared tests were used to determine any significant differences by sex, race, or whether the 50 51 respondent lived in the NYC metropolitan area or upstate. Differences in age were determined by a t-test. 52 53 If differences were found to be significant among these demographic categories, the relative risk was 54 55 calculated and reported as relevant. The responses to the final question in the survey were re-categorized 56 57 58 into a new variable due to the fact that many respondents chose their own solutions to Governor Cuomo’s 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 15 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 proposal. The new variable was able to describe whether respondents were supportive of stricter measures 4 5 6 than proposed or were content with the current judicial system. Open-ended questions in the survey were 7 8 analyzed using a qualitative content analysis to determine what factors respondents considered in their 9 10 responses to the main questions of interest. Coders conducted a Kappa test to determine intercoder 11 12 reliability, (kappa = 0.84). 13 14 For Peer ReviewResults Only 15 16 Descriptive Survey Results 17 18 19 A total of 1313 households were visited to acquire our sample of 119 respondents; a majority of 20 21 knocks were unanswered or did not have someone in residence at the time of visit (58.1%). Of the 550 22 23 households that answered the door, 10.7% did not have a NYS registered voter in the household, and 24 25 more than half of the households with a registered voter (67.6%) declined to be interviewed. 26 27 Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the 119 respondents who were interviewed. The 28 29 majority of respondents were men (54.2%) though this was not statistically significant, lived in the NYC 30 31 32 metropolitan area (69.8%), and tended to be older, with a mean age of 50.5 years (95% CI: 47.1, 53.9). 33 34 More than half of the respondents self-identified their race as White (58.0%), followed by Black/African 35 36 American (21.0%), Latino/Hispanic (12.6%), Asian (5.9%), Middle Eastern (1.7%), and Other (0.8%).. 37 38 Table 2 summarizes the survey responses. Most respondents were both familiar with the Eric Garner 39 40 incident (84.9%) and had seen video footage (73.7%) prior to being interviewed. A quarter (25.2%) of 41 42 respondents declined to watch the video during the interview and a small minority of respondents (1.7%) 43 44 45 stopped before completion. The most common reason given for declining to watch the video was that 46 47 people had already seen it, or were already familiar with the Garner incident. Women were 2.32 (94% CI: 48 49 1.17, 4.60) times more likely to be willing to be shown the video by interviewers than men. 50 51 Figure 2 displays respondents’ opinions of officer indictment in Garner’s case. Before viewing 52 53 the video, the majority of respondents indicated that the officers should face trial (57.4%), a quarter of 54 55 respondents indicated that they did not know what should happen (27.8%), a minority did not think the 56 57 58 officers should face trial (13.0%), and a few declined to respond (1.7%). Of the 119 respondents, 86 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 16 of 37

1 2 3 (72.3%) agreed to watch the Eric Garner video and were asked again whether the officers should be 4 5 6 indicted. Of the 86 respondents, 61 (70.9%) did not change their opinion after watching the video. Of the 7 8 25 (29.1%) respondents that changed their opinion after watching the video, the majority (72.0 %) 9 10 changed their responses from either ‘No’ or ‘Don’t Know,’ to ‘Yes,’ the officers should have faced trial, 11 12 while only a handful changed their mind in another direction. Before watching the video, Black 13 14 respondents wereFor 1.35 (95% PeerCI: 1.14, 1.59) timesReview more likely state that Only officers in the Garner case should 15 16 face trial than non-Black respondents. Before watching the video, White respondents were 0.59 (95% CI: 17 18 19 0.36, 0.99) times less likely to state that officers in the Eric Garner case should face trial than Black or 20 21 other race respondents. 22 23 More than half of respondents agreed (57.1%) with the Governor’s proposed reform to appoint a 24 25 special prosecutor in cases where a grand jury is delayed or fails to indict police officers involved in the 26 27 deaths of unarmed civilians. Some stated that they disagreed with the reform and that the process should 28 29 stay as is (i.e. there should be no special prosecutor, 11.8%) and several disagreed, stating that every case 30 31 32 should go to trial (7.6%). No respondents agreed with the statement, “police should never be tried for 33 34 deaths occurring on the job.” Other opinions were given by 24 of the respondents, in which the most 35 36 common responses were that a special prosecutor should be assigned on a case-by-case basis (nine 37 38 respondents), conducted by a third-party other than the State (eight respondents), or another response 39 40 (seven respondents). When considering whether responses to this question called for stricter measures for 41 42 police to face trials or for the status quo, we observe that over three-quarters of all respondents (75.6%) 43 44 45 wanted some greater measure of accountability for the police force. 46 47 Qualitative Analysis 48 49 To gain a deeper insight into the reasons behind respondent answers, interviewers posed an open- 50 51 ended question asking for the top reasons or the thought processes in considering whether or not the 52 53 officers in Eric Garner’s case should face trial. The most common considerations in order of frequency 54 55 stated were: 1) whether excessive force was used by police officers; 2) the degree to which the individual 56 57 58 resisted arrest; 3) abuse of police power; and 4) racial dynamics. Other justifications mentioned included 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 17 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 not having enough evidence to make a conclusion based on the video alone and sympathy for the difficult 4 5 6 working conditions of police officers. 7 8 For many respondents, the physical force police used on Eric Garner was the deciding factor. One 9 10 respondent said: “ The police escalated it and it was unnecessary. They were out to get him. The 11 12 chokehold was absolutely terrible. They could have de-escalated the situation. He was backing off and 13 14 was not being aggressiveFor.” ThePeer level of appropriate Review police aggression wasOnly often associated with the 15 16 severity of the suspected crime. For example, many respondents felt that the level of force was not 17 18 19 appropriate given the relatively mild nature of the crime (selling “loosies” or loose cigarettes). 20 21 Respondents also stated that the use of excessive force was indicative of the arresting officers’ lack of 22 23 concern for the arrestee’s well-being. 24 25 Resisting arrest was the second most common factor respondents mentioned when considering 26 27 whether the arresting officers should face trial or be charged. Of the respondents who stated that Eric 28 29 Garner resisted arrest, responses were divided as to whether or not the degree of resistance warranted 30 31 32 more aggressive action – or force. For example, one respondent said: “When law enforcement is 33 34 confronting someone it is conceivable for them to use force if the person they are confronting is resisting 35 36 them.” Respondents who stated that the police officers should not face trial most often stated that Garner 37 38 was resisting arrest in the video. 39 40 The idea of police privilege – hiding actions behind the badge – influenced many respondents’ 41 42 decisions. Several respondents felt that the police should be held accountable the same way civilians are 43 44 45 in cases of abuse. For example, one respondent stated, “ They killed a man. They choked him with their 46 47 bare hands and get away with it. How? Aren't police supposed to be people too? Why aren't they on 48 49 trial?” 50 51 The issue of Eric Garner’s race came up frequently when respondents discussed whether the 52 53 police should go to trial or be charged. One woman said: “ People of color bring out the worst in police 54 55 officers and face things that me as a White woman would never have to deal with .” Another respondent 56 57 58 shared: “…You know and it’s even worse for people of color. And I think the media is slowly been picking 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 18 of 37

1 2 3 up on more and more of these cases, maybe it’s because they’re happening more, but I think it’s just 4 5 6 because we’re more aware of it. And it makes sense that people are angry, you know?” People 7 8 acknowledged the role racism could play in police interactions with civilians, with many placing the 9 10 blame on the police. 11 12 Our analysis further explored the relationship between factors associated with changes in 13 14 respondents’ opinionsFor before Peer and after watching Review the video. For those respondentsOnly who changed from 15 16 “Don’t Know” to “Yes,” the police should face trial, the use of excessive force was frequently mentioned 17 18 19 as an explanation. One respondent said, “ What’s most important is looking to see if there was 20 21 unnecessary force used… I think there should have been an investigation for that one officer who grabbed 22 23 him around the neck.” Of note, this was the only category of respondents (those who changed from 24 25 “Don’t Know” to “Yes”) that cited loss of life, abuse of power, and severity of crime as factors they 26 27 considered when explaining their thoughts as to why arresting officers should face trial. One respondent 28 29 commented, “ It is a life, whether using force or not.” Another respondent said, “There’s a lot of training 30 31 32 officers get that teaches them how to deal with situations like this. This is power abuse. It should go to 33 34 trial, and I would say that even if the police officer were a family member.” Other factors the 35 36 aforementioned respondents considered while watching the video included: lack of adherence to protocol, 37 38 resisting arrest, negligence of officers, and self-defense. 39 40 Discussion 41 42 The topic of police violence has dominated the mainstream American conversation in recent 43 44 45 years, as the proliferation of smart phones has afforded average citizens the ability to document police- 46 47 civilian interactions. Although there is inconsistent data as to whether the frequency of police violence 48 49 towards people of color has risen, the increased media attention has made it a focus of national debate. 50 51 Understanding the impact of media and the increased availability of immediate and unfiltered visual 52 53 images on Americans’ perceptions of police-civilian interactions is important for influencing political 54 55 change and furthering social justice. 56 57 58 One aim of this study was to investigate whether video footage of police brutality would have an 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 19 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 effect on people’s opinions regarding the indictment of police officers. Prior to watching the film, 86 4 5 6 respondents were split as to whether or not the officers involved in Eric Garner’s death should face trial 7 8 (51.2% in favor; 48.8 against, unsure, or declined to respond). After watching the film, 44.19% of 9 10 respondents initially not in favor of indictment stated that police officers should face trial. Watching the 11 12 clip of Eric Garner’s arrest increased the percentage of respondents who wanted indictment (73.3% post- 13 14 video). A minorityFor (16.3%) agreedPeer with the positionReview reached by the Staten Only Island grand jury (ruling: 15 16 Officer Pantaleo cleared of charges). 17 18 19 We have already seen the significant impact of filming police violence/brutality in the news. In 20 21 November 2015, video footage of White police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting African American 22 23 teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times caused widespread protests. The video was a key tool in sentencing 24 25 Van Dyke for first-degree murder, a very rare charge for an American police officer (Guarino, Lowery, & 26 27 Berman, 2015). Additionally, evidence shows that individuals judge police brutality differently depending 28 29 on their background, socioeconomic status (SES), race, and experiences, and a high degree of ambiguity 30 31 32 around these events allows for personal interpretations. Video footage, however, provides sensitive and 33 34 emotionally complicated details of events that are otherwise difficult to talk about in common discourse 35 36 and may help people clarify their opinions (Rouse, 2013). 37 38 The results indicate there may be some utility for video in helping people form opinions; 39 40 however, these findings are limited due to the widespread prior exposure of this footage in the 41 42 population. Respondents who were already familiar with footage from the Eric Garner case were very 43 44 45 unlikely to change their mind after seeing the video. It is possible that their previous exposure to the 46 47 footage had already hardened their opinions, or that the video in fact had little to no effect on changing 48 49 people’s minds on the issue. Another possibility is that respondents who were willing to be interviewed 50 51 were those who already had strong opinions on the matter, and therefore were less likely to have their 52 53 minds changed about whether the officers should be indicted, regardless of what was shown. 54 55 Another aim of this study was to gauge the views of NYS voters regarding Governor Cuomo’s 56 57 58 decision to appoint a special prosecutor in cases of a civilian death at the hands of police. Only a minority 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 20 of 37

1 2 3 of respondents thought the prosecutorial process should remain as is, and none believed that police should 4 5 6 never face trial for civilian deaths occurring on the job. There is support for the Governor’s reform among 7 8 NYS voters, albeit with caveats. Several respondents expressed distrust in a state-appointed special 9 10 prosecutor, preferring instead for an outside federal or civilian entity to hold responsibility. Given the 11 12 support this measure holds, moving forward, Governor Cuomo and the NYS legislature should continue 13 14 to consider waysFor to increase Peeraccountability andReview oversight of the police. Only New York City recently 15 16 established an Inspector General’s office in 2013 with powers to identify issues, investigate policies, and 17 18 19 make recommendations. However, there is still room to grow in the implementation of these 20 21 recommendations, such as standardizing use-of-force policy and reporting, and expanding the influence of 22 23 the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board (Peters & Eure, 2015). 24 25 Several limitations should be noted in the interpretation of our results. Foremost, our small 26 27 sample size reduces our ability to make statistically significant conclusions. The low response rate 28 29 (9.06%), while similar to recent public opinion surveys in the United States (Kohut, Keeter, Doherty, 30 31 32 Dimock, & Christian, 2012), is quite low and likely reflects self-selection bias in the respondents, as those 33 34 with strong opinions were possibly more likely to agree to be interviewed. The demographic breakdown 35 36 of our sample was compared to characteristics of NYS voters from the 2014 Census data, and publicly 37 38 available voter registration data (NY Government, 2015), and differences may be reflected in our results. 39 40 Our sample tended to be younger and with a male predominance than is representative of the population. 41 42 This may skew the results towards greater support for indicting the officers, as other polls have shown 43 44 45 that people under 30 years of age were more likely to believe that the Eric Garner grand jury reached the 46 47 wrong decision. Likewise, the study results may more likely reflect the opinions of minorities (Black, 48 49 Asian) and less of White voters, as the proportion of White voters was nearly 20% less than that of 50 51 registered voters and may also skew towards indictment (Doherty, Motel, & Weisel, 2014). Voters in the 52 53 NYC metropolitan area and those upstate were sampled proportionately to actual voter distribution. 54 55 Gender bias may also be present, as female respondents were more than twice as likely to be willing to 56 57 58 watch the Eric Garner video. While this bias in response was not evident in responses to whether officers 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 21 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 should have been indicted or not, women were more likely to support the Governor’s plans for reform 4 5 6 than men (RR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.37). 7 8 Despite these limitations, this survey reveals two important points. First, there is difficulty in 9 10 determining the direct effect videos of police violence have on public opinion due to widespread exposure 11 12 through social media. Any future attempts to isolate this effect should concern themselves with how much 13 14 time has passed Forsince the incident Peer in question. Review The role of video footage Only in shaping public opinion is still 15 16 unknown for this study. Secondly, a majority of NYS voters are supportive of the appointment of a 17 18 19 special prosecutor in cases of civilian deaths by the police, a point that has not been demonstrated by 20 21 other public opinion polls to date. 22 23 Conclusion 24 25 There is enough evidence to support the commonly held belief that Black men are more often 26 27 profiled and disproportionately harmed by police officers (Miller et al, 2016). In fact, the lack of complete 28 29 and accurate datasets implies a significant underestimation (Rosenfeld, 2015). Increasingly obvious and 30 31 32 injurious racial bias has polarized and reduced much of the United States population to either support pro- 33 34 Black lives or pro-police. This study presents the opinions of a group of NYS voters who overwhelmingly 35 36 believe that there is a need for reform of the judiciary system that tries and indicts police officers. Given 37 38 our sampling methodology, it is unlikely that our study selected for voters that were more likely to be 39 40 more pro-Black lives than pro-police. Future research into respondents’ own relationship with the police 41 42 may give further insight. In fact, the qualitative analysis illustrates the complicated nature of voters’ 43 44 45 opinions on this topic; a fact that is decidedly absent from the more reductionist mainstream 46 47 conversations. These narratives typically characterize individuals who advocate for Black lives and 48 49 therefore against police officers themselves, rather than recognize the complexity of institutionalized 50 51 racism and the ways in which officers are complicit in upholding injustice. Additional studies would also 52 53 be helpful in determining the impact of how video of these incidents affect public opinion. This research 54 55 could inform future discussions regarding issues such as police body cameras and proposed system 56 57 58 reforms. Given the polarized state of the nation surrounding what many characterize as state sanctioned 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 22 of 37

1 2 3 violence against marginalized populations, it is imperative that policy and lawmakers generate legislation 4 5 6 that is consistent with the opinions of their constituency, and recognize that a significant proportion want 7 8 to hold law enforcement officers accountable for their actions. 9 10 11 12 13 14 For Peer Review Only 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 23 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 References 4 5 6 Alpert, G. P. (2016). Toward a National Database of Officer Involved Shootings. Criminology & Public 7 Policy , 15 (1), 237-242. 8 Amnesty International. (2015). Deadly Force: Police Use of Lethal Force in the United States. Retrieved 9 from http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/aiusa_deadlyforcereportjune2015.pdf 10 Baker, A., Goodman, J. D., & Mueller, M. (2015, June 13). Beyond the Chokehold: The Path to Eric 11 Garner's Death. The New York Times . Retrieved from 12 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/nyregion/eric-garner-police-chokehold-staten- 13 island.html?_r=0 14 Ball, P. (2016, MarchFor 4) Violence Peer in Blue: Police Review Homicides in the United Only States. Granta Magazine. 15 Retrieved from http://granta.com/violence-in-blue/ 16 Bialik, C. (2016, July 13). Gun, Badge, Camera. FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved from 17 http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gun-deaths-police-shootings/ 18 19 BLM. (2016). About Us. Black Lives Matter. Retrieved from http://blacklivesmatter.com/about/ 20 Bronstein, N. (2014). Police Management and Quotas: Governance in the CompStat Era. Colum. JL & 21 Soc. Probs., 48 , 543. 22 Burghart, B. (2016). Fatal Encounters. Retrieved from http://www.fatalencounters.org/ 23 Campaign Zero. (2016). Body Cams/Film the Police. Retrieved from 24 http://www.joincampaignzero.org/film-the-police 25 Capehart, J. (2015, April 29). Two riots, 23 years apart: From Rodney King to Freddie Gray. Retrieved 26 August 24, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/04/29/two- 27 riots-23-years-apart-from-rodney-king-to-freddie-gray/?utm_term=.3d807f3bbdbe 28 Community Relations Service. (1999). Police Use of Excessive Force. Retrieved from 29 https://www.justice.gov/archive/crs/pubs/pdexcess.pdf 30 Coscarelli, J. (2014, August 5). Eric Garner Not Killed by Chokehold, Say Police Unions, Despite All 31 32 Evidence to the Contrary. New York Magazine. Retrieved from 33 http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/eric-garner-not-killed-by-chokehold-say- 34 police.html 35 Crenshaw, K. (1995). Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement. The New Press. 36 Cuomo. (2015, January 21). NY Governor ’s 2015 State of the State Speech (Text and 37 Video). Governing: The States and Localities . Retrieved from 38 http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-new-york-andrew-cuomo.html 39 Democracy Now. (2016, February 24). Center That Sent EMTs to Treat Eric Garner After Fatal NYPD 40 Chokehold Pays Family $1 Million. Democracy Now. Retrieved from 41 http://www.democracynow.org/2016/2/24/headlines/center_that_sent_emts_to_treat_eric_garner_ 42 after_fatal_nypd_chokehold_pays_family_1_million 43 Doherty, C., Motel, S., & Weisel, R. (2014). Sharp Racial Divisions in Reactions to Brown, Garner 44 45 Decisions: Many Black Expect Police-Minority Relations to Worsen. PEW Research Center . 46 Retrieved from http://www.people-press.org/2014/12/08/sharp-racial-divisions-in-reactions-to- 47 brown-garner-decisions/ 48 Downs, S. (2015). NY public workers under the ax. Against the Current, 30 (4), 33-35. Retrieved from 49 http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1714094035?acco 50 untid=10226 51 Eisen, L. B. (2015, July 17). In New York, Attorney General as Special Prosecutor. Brennan Center for 52 Justice . Retrieved from https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/new-york-attorney-general-special- 53 prosecutor 54 Fagan, J. & Harcourt, B. E. (2014, July 17). Fact Sheet in Richmond County (Staten Island) Grand Jury in 55 Eric Garner Homicide. Columbia Law School. Retrieved from 56 http://web.law.columbia.edu/social-justice/forum-on-police-accountability/facts/faqs-eric-garner 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 24 of 37

1 2 3 Fisher, I. (1993, November 24). Kelly Bans Choke Holds By Officers. The New York Times . Retrieved 4 from http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/24/nyregion/kelly-bans-choke-holds-by-officers.html 5 6 Friedersdorf, C. (2014, December 4). Eric Garner and the NYPD's History of Deadly Chokeholds. The 7 Atlantic. Retrieved July 15, 2016, from 8 http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/context-for-the-punishment-free-killing-of- 9 eric-garner/383413/ 10 Gershman, B. L. & Cohen, J. (2014, December 8) What Might Have Happened Inside the Grand Jury 11 Investigating Eric Garner’s Death. Slate Magazine . Retrieved from 12 http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/12/daniel_pantaleo_staten_i 13 sland_grand_jury_why_did_it_refuse_to_indict_eric.html 14 Goff, O. B., Lloyd,For T., Geller, Peer A., Raphael, S.,Review & Glaser, J. (2016, July). Only Science of Justice: City Report. 15 Center for Policing Equity . Retrieved from http://policingequity.org/wp- 16 content/uploads/2016/07/EverytownPD.City_.Report-FINAL.pdf 17 Goldstein, J., & Schweber, N. (2014, July 18). Man’s Death After Chokehold Raises Old Issue for the 18 19 Police. The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2016, from 20 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/nyregion/staten-island-man-dies-after-he-is-put-in- 21 chokehold-during-arrest.html 22 Goodman, J. D. (2015, January 13). Mayor de Blasio Vows to Veto Chokehold Bill. The New York Times. 23 Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/14/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio- 24 vows-to-veto-chokehold-bill.html 25 Goodman, A. (2016, July 13). Two Years After Eric Garner’s Death, Ramsey Orta, Who Filmed Police, 26 Is the Only One Heading to Jail. Democracy Now. Retrieved from 27 http://www.democracynow.org/2016/7/13/two_years_after_eric_garner_s 28 Goodman, J. D., & Goldstein, J. (2014, August 5). Handling of New York Chokehold Cases 29 ‘Disappointing,’ Review Board Chief Says. The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2016, from 30 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/nyregion/handling-of-new-york-chokehold-cases- 31 32 disappointing-review-board-chief-says.html?smid=pl-share 33 Goodman, J. D., & Wilson, M. (2014, December 4). Officer Daniel Pantaleo Told Grand Jury He Meant 34 No Harm to Eric Garner. The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2016, from 35 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/nyregion/officer-told-grand-jury-he-meant-no-harm-to-eric- 36 garner.html 37 The Guardian. (2016). The Counted. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng- 38 interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database 39 Guarino, M., Lowery, W., and Berman, M. (2015, November 25). Unrest in Chicago after police officer 40 charged with murder in shooting of black teenager. The Washington Post . Retrieved from 41 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/11/24/chicago-police-officer- 42 charged-with-murder-for-shooting-black-teenager/ 43 Hamilton, C., & Valasquez, J. (2016, February 4). Opposition to Cuomo's special prosecutor proposal 44 45 grows. . Retrieved July 22, 2016, from http://www.politico.com/states/new- 46 york/albany/story/2016/02/opposition-to-cuomos-special-prosecutor-proposal-grows-000000 47 HRW. (2009, March). Decades of Disparity: Drug Arrests and Rates in the United States. Human Rights 48 Watch. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0309web_1.pdf 49 Jee-Lyn García, J., & Sharif, M. Z. (2015). Black Lives Matter: A commentary on racism and public 50 health. American journal of public health , 105 (8), e27-e30. 51 Kelling, G. L., & Wilson, J. Q. (1982, March). Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety. 52 The Atlantic. Retrieved August 24, 2016, from 53 http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/03/broken-windows/304465/ 54 Klinger, D., Rosenfeld, R., Isom, D., & Deckard, M. (2016). Race, Crime, and the Micro[Ecology of 55 Deadly Force. Criminology & Public Policy , 15 (1), 193-222. 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 25 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 Knafo, S. (2016, February 18). A Black Police Officer’s Fight Against the N.Y.P.D. The New York Times. 4 Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/magazine/a-black-police-officers-fight- 5 6 against-the-nypd.html 7 Kohut, A., Keeter, S., Doherty, C., Dimock, M., & Christian, L. (2012, May 15). Assessing the 8 representativeness of public opinion surveys. Washington, DC, US: Pew Research Center. 9 Lee, H., & Vaughn, M. S. (2010). Organizational factors that contribute to police deadly force liability. 10 Journal of Criminal Justice , 38 (2), 193-206. 11 Lopez, G. (2014, December 8). Most White Americans Want Eric Garner’s Killer Indicted, but not 12 Michael Brown’s. VOX. Retrieved from http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/12/8/7353401/michael- 13 brown-eric-garner 14 Mapping PoliceFor Violence (2015). Peer Police Violence Review Map. Retrieved from Only 15 http://mappingpoliceviolence.org/aboutthedata/ 16 Mathias, C. (2014, December 11). Eric Garner Said, ‘I Can’t Breathe’ 11 Time – Now Activists Area 17 Making 11 Demands in His Name. Huffington Post. Retrieved from 18 19 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/11/eric-garner-protests-demands_n_6308956.html 20 Mays, J. (2014, September 8). Bratton Opposes Law to Make Chokeholds Illegal. DNAinfo. Retrieved 21 from https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140908/civic-center/bratton-opposes-law-make- 22 chokeholds-illegal 23 Miller, L. (2015). Why cops kill: The psychology of police deadly force encounters. Aggression and 24 violent behavior , 22 , 97-111. 25 Miller, T. R., Lawrence, B. A., Carlson, N. N., Hendrie, D., Randall, S., Rockett, I. R., & Spicer, R. S. 26 (2016). Perils of police action: A cautionary tale from US data sets. Injury Prevention Inj Prev . 27 doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2016-042023 28 Mitchell, O., & Caudy, M. S. (2015). Examining racial disparities in drug arrests. Justice Quarterly , 29 32 (2), 288-313. 30 Mueller, B. (2014, July 21). Medical Workers Face Scrutiny After Man’s Death in Police Custody. The 31 32 New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/nyregion/medical- 33 workers-face-scrutiny-after-mans-death-in-police-custody.html 34 Murray, K., Burke, K., Marcius, C. R., & Parascandola, R. (2014, July 18). Staten Island Man Dies After 35 NYPD Cop Puts Him in Chokehold - see the video. New York Daily News. Retrieved from 36 http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/staten-island-man-dies-puts-choke-hold-article- 37 1.1871486 38 Nellis, A. (2016, June 14). The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons. The 39 Sentencing Project . Retrieved from http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/color-of- 40 justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons/ 41 NY Government. (2010). NY Census Data: 2000 to 2010 Population. Retrieved from 42 https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/policy-and-strategy/darb/dai- 43 unit/ttss/repository/CensusPop2010_PL94-171county.pdf 44 45 NY Government. (2015). NYS Voter Enrollment by County, Party Affiliation and Status. Retrieved from 46 http://www.elections.ny.gov/NYSBOE/enrollment/county/county_apr15.pdf 47 NYS Assembly. (2015a). Bill No A06509A. Retrieved from 48 http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=A06509&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Text=Y& 49 Votes=Y 50 NYS Assembly. (2015b). Bill No S05592A. Retrieved from 51 http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=S05592&term=2015&Summary=Y&Actions= 52 Y&Text=Y&Votes=Y 53 NYS Office of the Attorney General. (2014, December 8). A.G. Schneiderman Requests Executive Order 54 to Restore Public Confidence in Criminal Justice System. Retrieved from 55 http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-requests-executive-order-restore-public- 56 confidence-criminal-justice 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 26 of 37

1 2 3 NYS Office of the Governor. (2015, July 8). No. 147: A special Prosecutor to Investigate and Prosecute 4 Matters Relating to the Deaths of Civilians Caused by Law Enforcement Officers. Retrieved from 5 6 https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/no-147-special-prosecutor-investigate-and-prosecute-matters- 7 relating-deaths-civilians-caused 8 NYS Office of the Governor. (2016). Executive Order. Retrieved from 9 https://www.governor.ny.gov/keywords/executive-order 10 Penner, L. A., & Dovidio, J. F. (2016). Racial colorblindness and Black-White health care disparities. In 11 H. A. Neville, M. E. Gallardo, & D. W. Sue (Eds.), The myth of racial color blindness: 12 Manifestations, dynamics, and impact (pp. 275-293). Washington, DC, US: American 13 Psychological Association. 14 Peters, M. G., &For Eure, P. K. Peer(2015, October 1).Review Police Use of Force in Only NYC: Findings and 15 Recommendations on NYPD’s Policies and Practices. Retrieved from 16 http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/oignypd/downloads/pdf/oig_nypd_use_of_force_report_- 17 _oct_1_2015.pdf 18 19 Porter, N. D. (2015). Expanding Public Safety in the Era of Black Lives Matter. U. Miami L. Rev. , 70 , 20 533. 21 Ramsey, C. H., & Robinson, L. O. (2015, May). The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. 22 Retrieved from http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/taskforce_finalreport.pdf 23 Remnick, N. (2015, July 8). Cuomo’s Order for Special Prosecutor in Police Deaths Is Criticized. The 24 New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/09/nyregion/cuomos-order- 25 for-special-prosecutor-in-police-deaths-is-criticized.html 26 Rosenfeld, R. (2015). Police Killings and Sociological Research. Sociol Forum Sociological Forum, 27 31 (1), 223-224. doi:10.1111/socf.12230 28 Rouse, L. (2013). A change of view: Using visual methods to explore experience in qualitative 29 research. The Official Blog of the Journal of European Psychology Students. Retrieved from 30 http://blog.efpsa.org/2013/05/15/a-change-of-view-using-visual-methods-to-explore-experience- 31 32 in-qualitative-research/ 33 Roy, Y. (2015, July 13). DAs slam Cuomo over police shooting move. Newsday. Retrieved from 34 http://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/das-oppose-cuomo-s-special-prosecutor-initiative- 35 1.10637676 36 R. W. (2014, December 7). How a Grand Jury Works. The Economist. Retrieved from 37 http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/12/economist-explains-3 38 Sentencing Project. (2013). Report of The Sentencing Project to the United Nations Human Rights 39 Committee Regarding Racial Disparities in the United States Criminal Justice System. Retrieved 40 from http://sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Race-and-Justice-Shadow-Report- 41 ICCPR.pdf 42 Shallwani, P. (2014, August 1). NYPD Officer’s Chokehold Led to Staten Island Man’s Death, Medical 43 Examiner Says. . Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/staten- 44 45 island-man-died-of-choke-hold-administered-by-nypd-officer-new-york-city-medical-examiner- 46 1406922200 47 Shaw, A. R. (2012). Our Duty in Light of the Law's Irrelevance: Police Brutality and Civilian Recordings. 48 Geo. J. on Poverty L. & Pol'y, 20 , 161. 49 Stuart, F. (2011). Constructing police abuse after Rodney King: How skid row residents and the Los 50 Angeles Police Department contest video evidence. Law & Social Inquiry , 36 (2), 327-353. 51 United Nations. (1990). Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement 52 Officials. Retrieved from 53 http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/UseOfForceAndFirearms.aspx 54 U.S. 103rd Congress. (1994). Violent Crime Control and Enforcement Act. Retrieved from 55 https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/3355/text 56 U.S. 113th Congress. (2013). Death in Custody Act. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th- 57 58 congress/house-bill/1447/text 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 27 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015a). Quick Facts: Race and Hispanic Origin. Retrieved from 4 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/RHI125215/00 5 6 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015b). Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2014. Retrieved from 7 http://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/voting-and-registration/p20-577.html 8 U.S. District Court Southern District of NY. (2015, December 10). Raymond et al v. The City of New 9 York et al. Retrieved from 10 https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/9270122/Raymond_et_al_v_The_City_of_New_York 11 _et_al 12 U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. (2016, May 28). Prison Statistics: Inmate Race . Retrieved from 13 https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_race.jsp 14 Valasquez, J., &For Paybarah, A.Peer (2015, August Review7). Cuomo Names Schneiderman Only as Special Prosecutor. 15 Politico. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2015/07/cuomo- 16 names-schneiderman-as-special-prosecutor-023617 17 Valdez, Z. (2015, June). The Abandoned Promise of Civil Rights. Sociological Forum 30 (S1), 612-626. 18 19 Washington Post. (2016). Fatal force. The Washington Post. Retrieved from 20 https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2016/ 21 White, M. D. (2016, February). Transactional Encounters, Crisis[Driven Reform, and the Potential for a 22 National Police Deadly Force Database. Criminology & Public Policy 15 (1), 223-235. 23 Zack, N. (2015). and Black Rights: The Injustice of US Police and 24 Homicide . Lanham, MD, US: Rowman & Littlefield. 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 28 of 37

1 2 3 Table 1 4 5 Demographics of New York State Voter Survey Respondents 6 Variable Frequency (%) NYS-Wide Registered 7 Voters (%) 8 9 Gender 118 10 Male 64 (54.2) 45.5* 11 Female 54 (45.8) 54.5* 12 Missing 1 13 14 Age For Peer 119Review Only 15 18 – 24 years 3 (2.5) 9.1* 16 17 25 – 34 years 26 (22.0) 15.0* 18 35 – 44 years 32 (27.1) 14.8* 19 45 – 65 years 38 (32.2) 36.5* 20 > 65 years 19 (16.1) 24.6* 21 22 Race 119 23 Black/African American 25 (21.0) 18.0* 24 25 White 69 (58.0) 77.5* 26 Latino/Hispanic 15 (12.6) 12.3* 27 Asian 7 (5.9) 4.5* 28 Middle Eastern 2 (1.7) -- 29 30 Other 1 (0.8) -- 31 NYC Metro Area 119 32 33 In Area 83 (69.8) 67.6** 34 Outside Area 36 (30.4) 32.4** 35 36 Time Living in Location 117 37 0 – 5 years 30 (25.6) -- 38 6 – 10 years 16 (13.7) -- 39 40 11 – 15 years 13 (11.1) -- 41 16 – 20 years 20 (17.1) -- 42 21 – 25 years 8 (6.8) -- 43 26 – 30 years 16 (13.7) -- 44 45 > 30 years 14 (12.0) -- 46 *From 2014 Census Data of Registered Voters 47 **From 2015 Voter Registration Data from NYS Board of Elections 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 29 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 Table 2 4 5 Response Frequencies of Survey Questions 6 Survey Question Frequency Percent 7 8 Heard of Eric Garner prior to interview? 119 9 Yes 101 84.9 10 No 17 14.3 11 12 Don’t Know 1 0.8 13 Seen footage prior to interview? 118 14 For Peer Review Only 15 Yes 87 73.7 16 No 29 24.6 17 Don’t know 2 1.7 18 Missing 1 19 20 Should officers in Garner incident face trial? 115 21 (Before viewing video) 22 23 Yes 66 57.4 24 No 15 13 25 Don’t Know 32 27.8 26 Declined to Answer 2 1.7 27 28 Missing 4 29 Viewed Video 119 30 31 Yes (full) 87 73.1 32 Yes (partial/stopped) 2 1.7 33 No 30 25.2 34 35 Should officers in Garner incident face trial? 104 36 (Post-viewing video) 37 38 Yes 74 71.2 39 No 16 15.4 40 Don’t Know 12 11.5 41 Declined to Answer 2 1.9 42 43 Missing 15 44 Change in Opinion after watching video 86 45 46 Yes 25 29.1 47 No 61 70.9 48 Missing 33 49 50 Should the Governor’s reform be permanent? 119 51 Yes, I agree this reform should be 68 57.1 52 53 permanent 54 No, it should stay as it is and there should 14 11.8 55 be no special prosecutor 56 No, every case should go to trial 9 7.6 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 30 of 37

1 2 3 No, police should never face trial for 0 0 4 5 deaths occurring on the job 6 7 Other - Case by case basis 9 7.6 8 Other - Support special prosecutor, but 8 6.7 9 distrust State 10 11 Other - Varies from aforementioned 7 5.9 12 responses 13 Don’t Know 2 1.7 14 DeclinedFor to Answer Peer Review 2 Only 1.7 15 16 Agree Governor’s Proposal 119 17 18 Yes 68 57.1 19 No 51 42.9 20 21 Stricter measures for police to face trials in cases 119 22 of deaths on the job 23 In favor 90 75.6 24 25 Opposed 29 24.4 26 27 28

29 30 31 32 33

34 35 36 37 38

39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 31 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 Figure 1 4 5 Respondents’ opinions on officer indictment before and after viewing the Eric Garner arrest video 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 For Peer Review Only 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 32 of 37

1 2 3 Appendix 1 4 5 The Aftermath of the Death of Eric Garner - A Compiled Timeline 6 Date Event 7 July 18 th 2014 During a press conference alongside New York City Mayor , 8 Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan states that he will be doing a 9 10 “complete and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr. 11 Garner’s death” (“Mayor hold press conference,” 2014). 12 July 19 th 2014 Officer Pantaleo is stripped of his handgun and badge and Officer Justin 13 14 ForDamico, Peer the other undercover Review officer to originally Only confront Mr. Garner, is 15 taken off of foot patrol. Both men continue to receive their salaries 16 (“Timeline,” 2014). 17 18 July 21 st 2014 New York news media reports that all EMS workers who responded to the call 19 are suspended without pay after originally being put on modified duty (Siff, 20 2014). 21 22 July 22 nd 2014 Commissioner Bratton announces that the entire NYPD will be re-trained in 23 use of force “in the coming weeks, months, and years ahead” (Linton, 2015). 24 25 July 23 rd 2014 Friends and family gather in for Eric Garner Funeral. He is buried in 26 Linden, New Jersey. Peaceful protests continue across the city (Newman, 27 28 2014). 29 July 25 th 2014 Eric Garner’s family announce that they are requesting that the federal 30 31 government conduct a civil rights investigation (Solis, 2014). 32 August 1 st 2014 The New York City Medical Examiner’s Office concludes that Garner died 33 34 due to a chokehold complicated by obesity and asthma. His cause of death was 35 ruled a homicide (“Timeline,” 2014). 36 August 13 th 2014 A group of six New York City federal lawmakers echo calls for the Justice 37 38 Department to open an investigation.

39 th 40 August 19 2014 The District Attorney tells the media that Mr. Pantaleo will face a grand jury to 41 determine whether there is sufficient evidence to bring the officer to trial. 42 th 43 September 29 2014 The grand jury begins hearing evidence. Over the course of the proceedings 44 sixty exhibits are submitted and testimony is heard from fifty witnesses 45 including civilians, police officers, and medical personnel (Parascandola and 46 47 Mcshane, 2014). 48 October 7 th 2014 The Garner family files a claim of intent to sue the city over the arrest and 49 subsequent death of Eric Garner. 50 rd 51 December 3 2014 The grand jury declines to indict Officer Pantaleo. All other personnel 52 involved had been given immunity as part of the grand jury proceedings. 53 54 Attorney General announces the beginning of an ongoing federal 55 investigation (Office of Attorney General, 2014). 56 December 4 th 2014 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo promises legislative action to address 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 33 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 “the grand jury process." 4 5 Per an application to the court by District Attorney Donovan, Judge Stephen 6 Rooney authorizes the release of limited facts concerning the types of evidence 7 the grand jury reviewed. 8 9 December 8 th 2014 New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman requests that the Governor 10 empower him to investigate and prosecute cases of potential police 11 wrongdoing which result in civilian deaths (New York State Executive 12 Government, 2014). 13 14 December 10 th 2014For A coalitionPeer including Review the New York Civil Liberties Only Union, Legal Aid Society, 15 Public Advocate's office, and the National Association for the 16 Advancement of Colored People, petitions for the release of redacted 17 testimony, instructions given to the grand jury, a list of evidence presented and 18 physical and documentary evidence (“Application for Disclosure of 19 Transcripts,” 2014). 20 21 February 17 th 2015 New York State Chief Judge Lippman calls for judges to oversee grand jury 22 proceedings that involve police wrongdoing and civilians. Currently, the 23 prosecutor runs the proceedings and is responsible for educating jurors on the 24 law and presenting all incriminating and exculpatory evidence. 25 26 March 19 th 2015 Supreme Court Judge William Garnett weighs the arguments presented by the 27 petitioning coalition and refuses to release additional grand jury documents. 28 29 District Attorney Donovan had asked that testimony and other documents 30 remain sealed (, 2015). 31 April 20 th 2015 The state appeals court approves a motion to expedite the appeals process 32 33 concerning the unsealing of grand jury documents (Hogan, 2015). 34 th 35 May 5 2015 The coalition petitioning for the unsealing of grand jury documents formally 36 launches an appeal (Rizzi, 2015). 37 38 Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan wins a special election to take 39 Michael Grimm’s seat in the US House of Representatives after Grimm 40 resigns following a tax fraud conviction. Donovan easily carries New York’s 41 11th District (Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn) with 60% of the vote 42 43 (Burns, 2015). 44 July 8 th 2015 Governor Cuomo signs an Executive Order appointing Attorney General 45 46 Schneiderman as special prosecutor in cases where law enforcement officers 47 are involved in the deaths of civilians. 48 49 July 13 th 2015 The City of New York agrees to settle the $75 million dollar lawsuit brought 50 by the Garner family for $5.9 million. 51 52 July 26 th 2015 A panel of NYS appellate judges upholds previous rulings on the sealed grand 53 jury documents. The court finds that the petitioners failed to build a 54 55 compelling case as to why the law, which requires that all grand jury 56 proceedings be strictly secret, should be countermanded. Letitia Jones, the 57 NYC Public Advocate, vows to lodge another appeal (Volokh, 2015). 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 34 of 37

1 2 3 January 8 th 2016 Sergeant Kizzy Adonis is served four counts of “failure to supervise” by the 4 NYPD regarding her role in the arrest of Eric Garner. She is stripped of her 5 6 badge and gun, but will not face a departmental trial until the federal 7 investigation is complete. As of writing she is the only officer to face any 8 formal charge of wrongdoing (Baker, 2016). 9 February 10 th 2016 A federal grand jury charged with determining whether there is enough 10 11 evidence to issue a civil rights charge in the begins 12 hearing evidence. As of writing the jury is still in session (Feuer and Apuzzo, 13 2016). 14 For Peer Review Only 15 July 6 th 2016 Ramsey Orta, a friend of Eric Garner who filmed the arrest and submitted it to 16 the Daily News, announces that he will plead guilty to weapons and drug 17 charges. Orta alleges the charges are part of a campaign of harassment and 18 retaliation carried out over the past two years by the NYPD for his role in 19 documenting Garner’s death. He will likely serve four years in a prison in 20 upstate New York (Jacobs, 2016). 21 22 23 References for Eric Garner Timeline 24 Application for the disclosure of transcripts of the grand jury proceedings relating to the death of Eric 25 Garner . Supreme Court of the State of New York in Richmond County. New York Civil Liberties 26 Union (December 10, 2014) 27 Associated Press. (2015, March 19). Judge won't release NYPD, Garner testimony . Retrieved July 24, 28 2016, from http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/william-garnett-ny-supreme-court-justice- 29 said-there-s-no-reason-to-release-eric-garner-testimony-1.10085300 30 31 Baker, A. (2016, January 08). New York Police Sergeant to Face Internal Charges in Eric Garner 32 Confrontation . Retrieved July 24, 2016, from 33 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/09/nyregion/new-york-police-sergeant-to-face-internal- 34 charges-in-eric-garner-confrontation.html 35 Baker, A., Goodman, J.D., Mueller, M. (13 June 2015). Beyond the Chokehold: The Path to Eric 36 Garner’s Death. New York Times . Retrieved from: 37 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/nyregion/eric-garner-police-chokehold-staten- 38 island.html?_r=0 39 Burns, A. (2015, May 05). Donovan, Staten Island Prosecutor, Wins Congressional Seat Grimm Held . 40 Retrieved July 24, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/06/nyregion/daniel-donovan- 41 elected-to-congress-from-new-york.html 42 Feuer, A., & Apuzzo, M. (2016, July 11). With Prosecutors at Odds, U.S. Inquiry Into Eric Garner’s 43 44 Death Drags On. Retrieved July 24, 2016, from 45 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/nyregion/with-prosecutors-at-odds-us-inquiry-into-eric- 46 garners-death-drags-on.html 47 Hogan, G. (2015, April 21). High Court Agrees to Quicker Review of Eric Garner Grand Jury Records 48 Case - Tompkinsville - DNAinfo New York. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from 49 https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150421/tompkinsville/high-court-agrees-quicker-review- 50 of-eric-garner-grand-jury-records-case 51 Jacobs, S. (2016, July 6). Man who filmed Eric Garner chokehold to take plea deal . Retrieved July 24, 52 2016, from http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/man-filmed-eric-garner-chokehold-plea-deal- 53 article-1.2701695 54 Linton, C. (2015, July 30). Eric Garner's death sparks tension, reform: A timeline . Retrieved July 08, 55 2016, from http://www.amny.com/news/eric-garner-timeline-1.10650986 56 57 Mayor hold press conference on Staten Island man's death . (2014, July 18). Retrieved July 24, 2016, 58 from http://abc7ny.com/news/mayor-hold-press-conference-on-staten-island-mans-death/199186/ 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 35 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

1 2 3 New York State Executive Government, Office of the Attorney General. (2014, December 8). A.G. 4 Schneiderman Requests Executive Order To Restore Public Confidence In Criminal Justice 5 6 System [Press release]. Retrieved July 8, 2016, from http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag- 7 schneiderman-requests-executive-order-restore-public-confidence-criminal-justice 8 Newman, A. (2014, December 02). The Death of Eric Garner, and the Events That Followed . Retrieved 9 July 24, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/04/nyregion/04garner- 10 timeline.html#/#time356_10536 11 Office of the Attorney General, Department of Public Affairs. (2014, December 3). Statement by Attorney 12 General Holder on Federal Investigation Into Death of Eric Garner [Press release]. Retrieved 13 July 25, 2015, from https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/statement-attorney-general-holder- 14 federal-investigation-death-eric-garnerFor Peer Review Only 15 Parascandola, R., & Mcshane, L. (2014, December 5). Info from Eric Garner’s grand jury probe made 16 public . Retrieved July 24, 2016, from http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/eric-garner-grand- 17 jury-evidence-public-thursday-article-1.2033065 18 19 Rizzi, N. (2015, May 6). New York's Highest Court Asked to Release Eric Garner Grand Jury Testimony 20 - Tompkinsville - DNAinfo New York. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from 21 https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150506/tompkinsville/new-yorks-highest-court-asked- 22 release-eric-garner-grand-jury-testimony 23 Siff, A. (2014, July 23). 4 EMS Workers Suspended Without Pay in Chokehold Arrest . Retrieved July 24, 24 2016, from http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Staten-Island-Chokehold-Arrest-Death- 25 Staten-Island-Eric-Garner-Video-NYPD-267913291.html 26 Solis, G. (2014, July 25). Eric Garner's Family Demands Federal Civil Rights Investigation - Bay 27 Terrace (Staten Island) - DNAinfo New York. Retrieved July 24, 2016, from 28 https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140725/downtown-brooklyn/eric-garners-family-demands- 29 federal-civil-rights-investigation 30 Timeline: Eric Garner Death . (2014, December 5). Retrieved July 08, 2016, from 31 32 http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Timeline-Eric-Garner-Chokehold-Death-Arrest-NYPD- 33 Grand-Jury-No-Indictment-284657081.html 34 Volokh, E. (2015, July 29). N.Y. appellate court refuses to order release of Eric Garner grand jury 35 materials . Retrieved July 25, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh- 36 conspiracy/wp/2015/07/29/n-y-appellate-court-refuses-to-order-release-of-eric-garner-grand-jury- 37 materials/ 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Journal of Social Service Research Page 36 of 37

RUNNING HEAD: Eric Garner NY Statewide Survey 1 2 3 Appendix 2 4 5 New York Statewide Survey Questionnaire 6 7 The following set of questions are about your access to information regarding the Eric Garner incident. 8 9 10 As I had mentioned, in Staten Island, a man named Eric Garner was arrested by a team of officers last 11 year. During the arrest, one of the officers used a maneuver that involved placing his arm around Eric 12 Garner's neck. Eric Garner lost consciousness during the arrest and died. 13 14 B4. Prior to beingFor contacted Peerby our team for thisReview interview, were you familiarOnly with the Eric Garner 15 incident? 16 ❏ 1. Yes 17 ❏ 2. No 18 ❏ 98. Declined to answer 19 ❏ 99. Don’t know 20 21 B1. Have you seen any video footage of the incident? 22 ❏ 23 1. Yes 24 ❏ 2. No 25 ❏ 98. Declined to answer 26 ❏ 99. Don’t know 27 28 B2. Based on what you have seen or heard, do you think any of the officers involved in this incident 29 should have faced a trial? 30 ❏ 1. Yes 31 ❏ 2. No 32 ❏ 98. Declined to answer 33 ❏ 99. Don’t know 34 35 36 37 Now I am going to show you a video of the arrest, and then ask you a couple of questions afterwards. Just 38 to remind you, this video does show violence and if you want me to stop the video, please say so. 39 40 [Show video. If video is stopped, record time ______] 41 [Ask respondent if they would like to take a short break or if they are ready to continue] 42 43 44 B3a . After seeing this video, do you think any of the officers involved in this incident should have faced a 45 trial? 46 ❏ 1. Yes 47 ❏ 48 2. No 49 ❏ 98. Declined to answer 50 ❏ 99. Don’t know 51 52 B3b. Please understand, I am asking everyone this next question no matter what they have said. Can 53 you tell us in a few words, the things that are most important to you when considering whether the 54 officers involved should go to trial or have charges brought against them? Feel free to share any 55 experiences or values that influence your thinking. 56 57 58 1 59 60 URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wssr Email: [email protected] Page 37 of 37 Journal of Social Service Research

RUNNING HEAD: Eric Garner NY Statewide Survey 1 2 3 4 B5. To give you a bit of background, a Grand Jury determines whether or not a case goes to trial, not 5 6 whether or not a person is convicted. In situations where the Grand Jury is delayed or fails to bring the 7 case to trial, the Special Prosecutor would independently review the case. 8 9 Because of the Eric Garner case last summer, Governor Cuomo signed an Executive Order temporarily 10 appointing the New York State Attorney General as a Special Prosecutor in cases where Law 11 Enforcement Officers are involved in deaths of civilians. This year Governor Cuomo asked the State 12 Legislature “to pass a law making this reform permanent.” Based on what you know, do you agree with 13 this proposal of the Governor? 14 For Peer Review Only 15 [Read the following answers verbatim. Stop after #4.] 16 ❏ 1. Yes, I agree that this reform should be permanent. 17 ❏ 2. No, it should stay as it is and there should be no special prosecutor. 18 ❏ 19 3. No, every case should go to trial. 20 ❏ 4. No, police should never face trial for deaths occurring on the job. 21 ❏ 98. [Do not read]. Declined to answer 22 ❏ 99. [Do not read]. Don’t know 23 B5a. If 24 “Other:______25 26 27 B6. Do you have any further thoughts or remarks about this topic? 28

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