Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The Buffalo Common Council voted to pass Cariol's Law Tuesday, but the vote was not unanimous. The law requires officers to intervene if a colleague goes beyond the scope of his duties and violates the civil rights of a citizen.
"This city, that is rarely recognized for being a trendsetter, will be a trendsetter. Not for fashion or finance, but for reform," says Council President Darius Pridgen. "Some may not agree on the name, and that's fine. But at the end of the day, I think we all agree police need this tool, people need this tool, and those good officers who have wanted to intervene can do so without the fear of discipline."
The law is named after Cariol Horne, the officer fired after trying to stop another officer from overstepping his bounds in dealing with a suspect. South District Councilmember Chris Scanlon was opposed to naming the law after Horne. "In my opinion, she has a checkered past, and delivered a fictitious account of a single incident whose merits have been contradicted by more than a half dozen other officers," says Scanlon. He says naming the law after Horne would comply to the loudest voices on social media.
Mayor Byron Brown must sign the bill into law.
