We hold police officers to high standards of conduct – not least being truthful about bad outcomes that arise from their work. Part of the bargain ought to be that, in return, the government be equally frank towards police officers – and a high level of care in training and equipping them.
As a citizen, I think it’s difficult to demand high standards of conduct from the police when their employer – the City – treats them shabbily.
When Officer John M. Kelly crashed his police car during a chase on Staten Island in 2000, thousands of officers attended his funeral, where Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani declared: “John Kelly is a hero. Nobody can take that away.”
Officer Kelly’s wife, Patricia M. Kelly, a police officer herself before retiring in 2000, has been trying for years to show that her husband’s supervisors knowingly sent him on patrol in an unsuitable car, something the department denies.
city lawyers have argued that Officer Kelly caused his own death Her lawyers have obtained documents showing that highway officers had reported steering problems in the model and a similar one.
In stark contrast to the mayor’s words at the funeral, city lawyers have argued that Officer Kelly caused his own death by driving recklessly and failing to use his seat belt. After years of litigation, Ms. Kelly has been denied in her efforts to question all the officers who had evaluated the cars.
Officer John Kelly patrolled the north shore of Staten Island for an auto larceny unit. He won high marks for his driving skills, vehicle maintenance, career potential and general demeanor.
“Officer Kelly reserves his action until he has assessed the situation completely,” his supervisors wrote in a year-end review for 1999. “He considers all aspects and develops a sound judgment of the situation.”
Still, there was friction between the extended family and the department. Mrs. Kelly’s sister, Virginia Duffy, joined a broad federal lawsuit accusing the department of sexual harassment and retaliation. The city eventually settled those claims for about $1.85 million awarded to six current or former officers.
On the afternoon of July 17, 2000, Officer John Kelly was assigned to patrol for traffic offenders. Alone in his car, an unmarked 1999 Chevy Lumina, he called in the license plate of a passing motorcycle, learned it had been stolen and gave chase. On Gulf Avenue in the Bloomfield section, he veered into a utility pole. Officer Kelly, 31, was pronounced dead within hours.
The motorcycle driver, Guido Tritto, now 51, was charged with manslaughter. He pleaded guilty to attempted assault on an officer for causing the accident.
At Our Lady Star of the Sea, Mayor Giuliani, Police Commissioner Howard Safir and the police union president, Patrick J. Lynch, led a crowd of thousands to mourn Officer Kelly. Mr. Safir spoke of an officer “loved and respected by his other family, the New York City Police Department.”
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The front-wheel drive 1999 Chevrolet Lumina that Officer Kelly was driving had been bought from a dealer in Long Island City, according to court documents.
A lawyer for Mrs. Kelly, Bernadette Panzella, obtained documents showing that the Police Department’s highway officers had tested the Lumina and a similar model, the Impala, in 1999. The reviewers described the cars as unsuitable for highway patrol, noting poor steering and acceleration.
In court documents, city lawyers denied the accusations of wrongful death. Officer Kelly knew the risks of his job, they wrote, and his death was “caused in whole or in part by culpable conduct of decedent and plaintiff.” They said, for example, that he had not been wearing a seat belt, and that any defects in the car were visible and should have been obvious to him.
In court, the case moved slowly. At a hearing in January, Ms. Panzella sought additional city documents and the right to question all the officers who had written the vehicle evaluations, according to a transcript. The judge overseeing the case, Thomas P. Aliotta, rejected her requests in October.
The wrongful death suit itself has yet to go to trial.
Michael Brick, “After Eulogies, Years of Litigation for Police Widow,” The New York Times,December 13th 2007.