New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation (OSI) today released its report on the death of Zabina Gafoor, who died on February 17, 2023 in a motor vehicle incident involving members of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in Queens. Following a thorough investigation, which included interviews with involved officers and witnesses, review of security camera footage, and comprehensive legal analysis, OSI concluded that a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the involved NYPD officer committed a crime, and therefore criminal charges are not warranted in this case.
On February 17, 2023 at 8:32 p.m., an NYPD officer was driving a marked police car with sirens and turret lights activated while responding with other officers to a call of an “officer in need of additional units.” He was driving on Beach Channel Drive in Far Rockaway, Queens, a local road with a 25 MPH speed limit, at speeds at times exceeding 70 MPH. As the officer approached Bay 32nd Street, there was a car in front of him. The light at the intersection was green, but the car slowed down to make a left turn. The officer attempted to drive around the car by going into the opposing lane of traffic and passing it on the left, but the car turned left at the intersection, colliding with the police car. The police car’s momentum and the collision sent the police car diagonally across the intersection, where it struck Ms. Gafoor, who was standing just off the curb in the bike lane of Beach Channel Drive.
Per New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law, Penal Law, and prevailing case law, a police officer who causes a death while properly responding to an emergency in a police vehicle cannot be charged with a crime unless the officer acts recklessly or intentionally. The criminal charge that requires recklessness is Manslaughter in the Second Degree, in which a person is guilty when they recklessly cause the death of another person. Recklessly means that the officer consciously disregarded a “substantial and unjustifiable” risk of death and that their actions are a “gross deviation” from a reasonable standard of conduct.
In this case, while the officer is responsible for Ms. Gafoor’s death, the evidence does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer’s conduct was a gross deviation of the standard that would have been observed by a reasonable officer in the same circumstances, or that the officer consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death. The officer was speeding because he was responding to an emergency, including a report of “officers in need of additional units.” He took precautions before the collision by activating his emergency lights and sirens, and when the officer saw the car in front turning left, he engaged his brakes and steered left in an attempt to avoid the collision. In the seconds before striking the turning car, the officer had slowed from 73 MPH to just under 55 MPH. Therefore, OSI concluded that there was insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges.
The NYPD’s patrol guide requires that if qualified to do so, the patrol supervisor must administer an alcohol test to any police officer involved in a collision that results in a death, and if not qualified, the patrol supervisor should request a qualified Highway Unit officer to administer the test. In this case, a test was not administered to the officer following the collision. While there is no evidence the officer in question was impaired or intoxicated, OSI recommends that all patrol supervisors be trained in administering alcohol breath tests to avoid similar delays in the future.
The OSI also recommends that every NYPD officer receive Emergency Vehicle Operator Course (EVOC) training once per year in an effort to prevent future collisions between police cars and civilians.
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