Investigations are underway in Queens, New York, after a civilian was struck and killed by an NYPD officer's vehicle in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. According to the New York Attorney General's Office press release, the Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation (OSI) has initiated an inquiry into the incident which occurred on August 23, around 4:37 p.m., when an NYPD officer, driving a marked police car on United Nations Avenue South, ran over a man lying on the road.
The man involved in the tragic event was promptly taken to a local hospital but sadly was pronounced dead, details of his identity have yet to be disclosed at this juncture, pending notification of his family which is the usual procedure in such grave circumstances. New York State Executive Law Section 70-b mandates that OSI jumps into action to examine any incident where a police or peace officer may have caused a person's death, which is exactly what they have begun, regardless the decedent's status of armament, or their custodial standing at the time of death.
This fatal interaction springs up questions and concerns about police conduct and the safety measures in place for civilians that find themselves intersecting paths with law enforcement officers. The Office of Special Investigation's approach to such matters, as mandated by law, ensures that each fatality involving police officers, whether they are in uniform and on-duty or cloaked in the anonymity of civilian life off-duty, is thoroughly probed for accountability and justice.
