In announcing the firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo for the death of Eric Garner, Police Commissioner James O’Neill recounted the entire 2014 encounter, saying that Garner’s resisting arrest for illegally selling cigarettes caused the incident, but that Pantaleo should have released his chokehold on the man. O’Neill, who delivered his statement at Police Headquarters Monday (above), finished his remarks with this:

I served for nearly 34 years as a uniformed New York City cop before becoming police commissioner. I can tell you that had I been in Officer Pantaleo’s situation, I may have made similar mistakes. And had I made those mistakes, I would have wished I had used the arrival of backup officers to give the situation more time to make the arrest. And I would have wished that I had released my grip before it became a chokehold.

Every time I watched the video, I say to myself, as probably all of you do, to Mr. Garner: “Don’t do it. Comply.”

To Officer Pantaleo: “Don’t do it.”

I said that about the decisions made by both Officer Pantaleo and Mr. Garner. But none of us can take back our decisions, most especially when they lead to the death of another human being.

I was not in Officer Pantaleo’s situation that day. I was chief of patrol and, later that year, chief of department. In that position, I proposed our Neighborhood Policing model so that the same cops would be in the same neighborhoods every day, so that relationships would replace preconceptions, so that problem-solving and -prevention would become tools officers were trained in and supported in using.

And, therefore, one of the great challenges of the policing profession, here in New York City and elsewhere, will always remain arresting someone who intends to resist that arrest.

1. "Eric Garner refused to cooperate with the arrest and to comply with lawful orders. The video also makes clear that Officer [Daniel] Pantaleo's original efforts to take Mr. Garner into custody were appropriate -- in that he initially attempted two maneuvers sanctioned by the Police Department. Officer Pantaleo first grabbed Mr. Garner's right wrist and attempted an arm-bar technique in preparation for handcuffs to be used. Mr. Garner immediately twisted, and pulled and raised both of his hands while repeatedly telling the officers to not touch him." 2. "Officer Pantaleo then wrapped his arms around Mr. Garner's upper body. Up to that point in the tense and rapidly evolving situation, there was nothing to suggest that Officer Pantaleo attempted to place Mr. Garner in a chokehold." 3. "The two men stumbled backward toward the large plate-glass window of the storefront behind them, and Officer Pantaleo's back made contact with the glass, causing the window to visibly buckle and warp . . . It is at that point in the video, that Officer Pantaleo is seen with his hands clasped together, and his left forearm pressed against Mr. Garner's neck in what does constitute a chokehold. The NYPD court ruled that while certainly not preferable, that hold was acceptable during that brief moment in time because the risk of falling through the window was so high." 4. " But that exigent circumstance no longer existed, the court found, when Officer Pantaleo and Mr. Garner moved to the ground. As Mr. Garner balanced himself on the sidewalk on his hands and knees, Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado found that Officer Pantaleo 'consciously disregarded the substantial and unjustifiable risks of a maneuver explicitly prohibited by the department.' "She found that during the struggle, Officer Pantaleo 'had the opportunity to readjust his grip from a prohibited chokehold to a less-lethal alternative,' but did not make use of that opportunity." Ad Up Next Close Lawmakers split over O'Neill's decision to fire Pantaleo The firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo on Monday drove a... 4 View Slideshow Back Continue Share this: Facebook

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Communication and de-escalation techniques are employed where possible, but — more often than the police and the public alike would prefer — varying levels of force are used to ensure compliance. Society gives our police the legal authority to use acceptable levels of force when necessary, because police cannot otherwise do their jobs.

Every day in New York, people receive summonses or are arrested by officers without any physical force being used. But some people choose to verbally and/or physically resist the enforcement action lawfully being taken against them. Those situations are unpredictable and dangerous to everyone involved. The street is never the right place to argue the appropriateness of an arrest. That is what our courts are for.

Being a police officer is one of the hardest jobs in the world. That is not a statement to elicit sympathy from those we serve; it is a fact.

Cops have to make choices, sometimes very quickly, every single day. Some are split-second life-and-death choices. Oftentimes, they are choices that will be thoroughly, and repeatedly, examined by those with much more time to think about them than the police officer had. And those decisions are scrutinized and second-guessed, both fairly and unfairly.

No one believes that Officer Pantaleo got out of bed on July 17, 2014, thinking he would make choices and take actions — during an otherwise routine arrest — that would lead to another person’s death. But an officer’s choices and actions, even made under extreme pressure, matter.

It is unlikely that Mr. Garner thought he was in such poor health that a brief struggle with police would cause his death. He should have decided against resisting arrest. But a man with a family lost his life — and that is an irreversible tragedy. And a hardworking police officer with a family, a man who took this job to do good — to make a difference in his home community — has now lost his chosen career. And that is a different kind of tragedy.

In this case, the unintended consequence of Mr. Garner’s death must have a consequence of its own.

Therefore, I agree with the deputy commissioner of trials’ legal findings and recommendation. It is clear that Daniel Pantaleo can no longer effectively serve as a New York City police officer.

In carrying out the court’s verdict in this case, I take no pleasure. I know that many will disagree with this decision, and that is their right. There are absolutely no victors here today — not the Garner family, not the community at large, and certainly not the courageous men and women of this Police Department who put their own lives on the line every single day in service to the people of this great city.

Today is a day of reckoning but can also be a day of reconciliation.

We must move forward together as one city, determined to secure safety for all — safety for all New Yorkers and safety for every police officer working daily to protect all of us.