NEW YORK: Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams issued the following statement after it was reported that the NYPD found no wrongdoing in the shooting death of Kawaski Trawick, and that there was no disciplinary action taken for the officers involved.
"Kawaski Trawick deserved justice and accountability - he deserved to live. And our systems robbed him of all three. I understand the complexities of the situation, the need to make quick decisions in emergency situations. But I don't know how you can look at this case, look at this video, and conclude that no one did anything wrong.
"The failures began long before officers even approached him - in the city's failure to treat mental health issues, and to recognize this incident for the health crisis it was and should have been treated as, rather than the violent encounter it became. Armed officers should never have been responding to this call, but even after their arrival, there were multiple opportunities for officers to disengage and de-escalate- and instead they chose to pursue and provoke. To say that there was no wrongdoing in this case is to blatantly ignore both systemic and individual failures, and invite them to perpetuate.
"As we await a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, this is a reminder that we don't need to look to Minneapolis for injustice in policing and the tragedy that results - only to Morris Heights."