Former Police Officer Peter Liang faces as much as 15 years behind bars after a jury found him 💫guilty of manslaughter in the 2014 dea꧋th of Akai Gurley.
This is the latest in an unfolding tragedy.
Clearly, Liang had no intent to🌠 kill when he and partner Shaun Landau began their “vertical patrol” in the stairwell of the Louis Pink Houses in East New York on Nov. 20, 𒈔2014. But his actions, without question, led to Gurley’s death.
Contra❀ry to good procedure, Liang had his gun drawn while opening the stairwell door. He insists he didn’t have his finger🐭 on the trigger — but the jurors saw no other way his gun would’ve discharged.
Worse, once the gun went off — and the bullet rico🍌cheted to fatally wound Gurley — neith🅰er Liang nor Landau provided aid. Nor did they call in the shooting promptly.
These jurors took great care before finding Liang 𒉰culpable, deliberating for days andꦆ reviewing the key facts.
It’s extremely rare for a police officer to be convicted in an accidental on-the-job shooting, and for good reason. Carelessly second-guessing cops makes their jobs more dangerous and, ultimately,🍌 the city less safe.
That said, this case exposed some other problems. Policing experts note th♌at𝔉 vertical patrols call for real experience — two rookies shouldn’t be assigned one by themselves.
And Internal Affairs is already looking into the apparent breakdown in CPR training. Liang’s lawyers charged that Police Academy cadets are graduated without learning how to render adequate🧸 aid.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has done a remarkable job of keeping crime down even as the politicians continue🎐 to make cops’ jobs harder. But keeping his finger on the ground-level pulse isn’t his greatest strength, and this tragedy seems to have exposed two ground-level problems.
Th🐟en there’s the bad idea from Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins, who suggests ending vertica🥀l patrols completely.
Sorry: The♕ patrols are needed — people in public housing have a right to safe꧟ty, too.
It would compound this tragedy if Akai Gurley’s death wound up puting hi🦩s neighbors’ lives in jeopard🌜y.