Officer involved in fatal standoff with veteran fired

Richard Liebson | The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Steven Hart, the White Plains police officer accused of using a racial slur during the 2011 standoff that ended with the death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., has been fired, police confirmed Monday.

"It's a small, but significant step in getting justice for the murder of my father," Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. said after being informed that Public Safety Commissioner David Chong had terminated Hart.

"(Hart) had a departmental hearing and after reviewing the findings, I thought that the best thing moving forward, for the department and the community, was that he be separated from service," Chong said.

He would not say specifically why Hart was fired.

"All I can say is that it was a personnel matter, and we don't discuss personnel matters," Chong said. Hart was notified of the dismissal on Sept. 19.

Chamberlain lawyer Randolph McLaughlin, of the Neuman Ferrara law firm, said Monday that Hart's firing "is a good first step. There's no question that an officer who uses racial slurs should not serve on any police department. However, removing one officer is not sufficient to address the serious issues occasioned by the Chamberlain shooting. Mr. Hart used the racial slurs, but he didn't pull the trigger. That officer should also be fired."

Neither Hart nor his lawyer could be reached for comment. The lawyer, John Pappalardo, had said previously that Hart denied using any racial slurs. An 11-year police veteran, Hart had been suspended without pay since July 2012 after he was hit with departmental charges.

Hart and two other officers, along with the city and the police department, are defendants in a $21 million federal lawsuit brought by the family of the 68-year-old Chamberlain Sr., who was shot and killed by police during a Nov. 19, 2011 standoff at his apartment.

Cops were called to the apartment after Chamberlain's medical alert device went off, apparently by accident. Police said Chamberlain, a former Marine and retired Westchester County Corrections officer, was acting irrationally and attacked cops with a hatchet and a knife. Police eventually broke open his door.

Police fired at Chamberlain with a stun gun and bean bags before he was shot and killed by Officer Anthony Carelli when police said he was about to stab another officer. While other cops talked to Chamberlain through his apartment door, Hart was sent outside to his first-floor apartment window to try and distract him. It was while he was outside that Hart apparently used the racial slur. In May 2012, a Westchester County grand jury voted not to indict any of the officers involved in the incident.

Another Chamberlain family lawyer, Mayo Bartlett, said the U.S. Justice Department is continuing to investigate Chamberlain's death.

In a statement released Monday afternoon, White Plains Police Benevolent Association President Robert Riley said the union does not agree with Hart's firing. He said that the hearing officer, retired state Supreme Court Judge John Perone, had recommended that Hart not be terminated.

"We believe that Officer Hart is being made a political scapegoat by the City to appease the understandably angry family of Kenneth Chamberlain," Riley's statement said. "Officer Hart has served this department honorably for over ten years, and has received several commendations for his work. He has never disparaged any person based on race or any other factors during the course of his employment."