NY police charge seven officers in groom shooting

[flashl]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Seven New York police officers involved in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man on his wedding night are facing internal disciplinary action, a police spokesman said on Tuesday.

All seven men are due to face hearings, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.

A month ago a New York state judge cleared two officers of manslaughter and a third of reckless endangerment in the death of Sean Bell, 23, who was shot, along with two friends, after a bachelor party at a strip club in November 2006.

Those three officers -- Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper -- were all served with administrative charges in 2007 that mirrored the criminal charges, Browne said.

Gary Napoli, the commanding officer on the night of the shooting, faces charges for failing to supervise the operation, Browne said. Michael Carey, who fired three shots, is charged with firing his gun outside department guidelines.

Two crime scene detectives, Sergeant Hugh McNeil and Detective Robert Knapp, were charged for their actions in the aftermath of the shooting.

Yahoo (Reuters)

[ThomCat]

1. My concern is

that these charges were filed just for show, to calm people down by showing that people are being held accountable.

But if it's all just for show then it's meaningless. We'll see if the news that comes out of these administrative hearings sounds like it's really being taken seriously.