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The city has agreed to pay $2 million to the parents of an unarmed Brooklyn teen who was fatally shot by a police officer three years ago. In January 2004, police officer Richard Neri was patrolling a Brooklyn rooftop with another officer at 1AM. Around the same time the other officer had opened a door to the stairwell, Timothy Stansbury and his friends were heading upstairs, to go to a party in another building in the Louis Armstrong Houses development by crossing over the roofs. But Neri had fired his gun and Stansbury died an hour and a half later. The NY Times has a particularly evocative illustration of the circumstances of the death.
The incident sparked a number of questions about police conduct in poor neighborhoods and with minorities, as well as how the police brass react to shootings. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg quickly acted to speak out against the shooting, which brought criticism from the police union. Neri, who said his gun went off accidentally, was not indicted by a grand jury (a mostly black and Latino grand jury, according to the Village Voice) and has since become a police union rep in the Brooklyn North area. Stansbury did not have a criminal record; he worked at McDonald's and was working on his GED.
Stansbury's mother Phyllis Clayburne, who is a city crossing guard, said, "It is what it is. When you're black, you don't get justice. A trillion dollars won't bring my son back. Neri is going to get to retire in four years. He's going to watch his children grow up. He's going to have a full life. But my son will never have that." The city's Law Department said, “The death of Timothy Stansbury Jr. was a tragedy, and we offer our condolences to his family. We believe the settlement is in the best interests of all parties, and hope it will provide some small measure of comfort.”
One of Stansbury's friends was in the process of making a short film about gun violence in Bedford-Stuyvesant when Stansbury was killed; the film is Bullets in the Hood. And one incident that also questioned the training of police officers: In 2003, an undercover police officer shot an unarmed African immigrant at a Chelsea mini-storage. The officer, Bryan Conroy, was participating in counterfeit CD sting when he came across Ousmane Zongo, who was restoring art. Zongo was shot four times in the back; Conroy claimed the area was too dark, while prosecutors said he was trigger happy. Conroy was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and was given probation; Zongo's family was awarded a $3 million settlement.
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the cops never pay for thier crimes...a careless murder and the guy doesnt even lose his jobs...what a sick world
it's like a sport to these guys apparently.
very well put Ms. clayburne.
there's this saying by cops, all that matters is that they got home safe. I hope Neri's kids stay healthy. and, not get some freaky disease living in a toxic dump.
I remeber this case and I'm as disturbed today as I was two years ago. However, this quote bothers me: *The incident sparked a number of questions about police conduct in poor neighborhoods and with minorities...*
Maybe this incident should have sparked more than police conduct issues, perhaps it should have also sparked black community issues. I'm pretty sick and tired of hearing "the police hate us, they're against us, they want to kill us" not true. their are hundreds of projects in this city and hundreds of thousands, if not millions of poor people that the police protect just the same as everyone else—perhaps more.
The news never reports on the good things the police do in these communities, they only focus on a police shooting. why nopt gang shootings or gangs shooting at cops? you mean to tell me gangs shgooting at cops is just lore?
You can believe what you will, but a higher amount of crime occurs in poor neighborhoods. therefore the police need to step up their patrols and in some cases, because of the extreme violence in these poorer neighborhoods or projects, shootings happen. why? because a good majority of these poor neighborhoods or projects are run by gangs and gangs have guns.
Perhaps community leaders like al sharpton and the like should intervene and help educate the poor... not parade them down 5th avenue in a protest of so-called whte establishments... while he's an advocate for peaceful protests, these particular protests are counter productive.
Yes, quite correct, mr. loblaw.
YOU believe what YOU will.
The kid didn't deserve to die.
In parts, Bob, that's well put, except for your main argument - "Maybe this incident should have sparked more than police conduct issues, perhaps it should have also sparked black community issues."
When police accidentally shoot someone it's a big fuckup. It deserves criticism, and cops need to pay attention to incidents like these so that they don't make the same mistake. It is not the time to try and shift the blame.
#5 where did i say he deserved to die? this was my opener, if you can comprehend: *I remeber this case and I'm as disturbed today as I was two years ago.*
#6: I wasn't trying to shift the blame even a little bit.
What i was referring to, is that this seems to happen a lot. whetrher someone is killed or arrested wringfully. when will these so-called community leaders step to the plate?
Good to see my tax dollars being well spent thanks to some scaredy-cat cop.
look at the bright side. at least they got 2 million! how long would that taken the family.
this was a terrible tragedy that has left the Stansbury's in mourning over their son. She is correct in 2 million dollars can never bring their son back. The Stansbury's are a wonderful family- Timetress, Phyllis and Tracy are incredibly strong in spirit and hopefully this puts even a partial end to their horror.
$2 million seems like an awful lot to pay in compensation, given that this guy's lifetime earnings flow, assuming a 10% discount rate and 3% annual growth off of an original $14k/year (50 weeks x $7/hr x 40 hours/week), would only be worth about $200k.
I recommend reading the Times article - there's a fairly harrowing description of what Stansbury went through between being shot and until he died as well as the medical attention he received. The settlement was also based on the suffering Stansbury went through.
Maybe 19 year-old black males shouldn't be running around police-patrolled project rooftops at 1am. Then again, this kid didn't even have a high school diploma. Oh & Math Guy is totally right!
number 12 is why I luv JC more and more.
she really grew on me. keep up the good work jen.
you're right jen, the times article puts it all into perspective.