New York Detective Will Not Be Fired Over Tirade Captured on YouTube

Detective Patrick Cherry, a member of the elite Joint Terrorism Task Force, will not be fired over his notorious scene with a New York cabbie who honked at him for attempting to park on the West Side Highway without signaling. The tirade was captured by a sympathetic passenger of the Uber driver and posted on YouTube. The video is below. The police has said that the use of the car’s lights and sirens — and the abusive yelling at the cabbie — is not a firing offense.

On the video, Cherry not only berates the driver and questions how long he has been in the United States. Cherry later said that he was mad because the driver swerved around him, flipped him the bird, and mouthed “f— you.”

The passenger who recorded the video, Sanjay Seth, can be heard saying that it was not the drives fault and offering to share the video with him. He is expected to speak with investigators at the Civilian Complaint Review Board this week. However, the police have said that the most that Cherry will face will be a mark on his record and the loss of pay and vacation days.

Notably, Cherry has been previously the subject of about 10 complaints during his 15 years on the force, often for verbally abusing civilians.

Frankly, I am not sure that the detective would warrant termination in such a case, but I would like to hear more about the possible pattern of such conduct. Moreover, I am a bit disturbed about the portrayal of the incident as an officer becoming verbally abusive. Cherry used his siren and car to hold the civilian for what seems a personal matter.

What do you think?

Source: DNA