Articles for Daniela Porat

Feb 13

2018

Training, equipment deficient in police drowning

The rapid-moving and debris-filled water of the Niagara River was unfamiliar territory to Officer Craig Lehner. His previous dives were in relatively calm and contained waters like the Buffalo River and the clear, warm Caribbean where he got his scuba certification. Last October, Lehner was training with the Buffalo Police’s Underwater Recovery Team in the Niagara River, the first time the team had trained there in over a year. While the team’s commander, Detective Leo McGrath, has more than thirty years of diving experience, he is not certified to teach public safety diving. Underwater, Lehner lacked the equipment to verbally[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Feb 9

2018

Buffalo police disbanding troubled Strike Force

The Buffalo Police Department is disbanding a special unit that ostensibly targets gang, guns and drug activity in the face of criticism over what some regard as its heavy-handed tactics. Police officials confirmed the 19 officers and supervisors in the unit, known as Strike Force, will be reassigned effective March 12. The fate of a related operation known as the Housing Unit, which operates in and around the city’s public housing projects, is not known. Investigative Post in September published a report that documented misconduct on the part of Strike Force and Housing Unit officers. Its reporting turned up ten[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Feb 2

2018

Buffalo police cleared in fatal shooting

Daniela Porat provided analysis for WGRZ on a report released Thursday by the state attorney general on the fatal shooting of Jose Hernandez-Rossy by Buffalo police last May. The report concluded that police had legal justification to use deadly force as Hernandez-Rossy fled police because they believed – mistakenly – that he had a gun and had shot one of the officers in the ear. The officer’s injuries were caused, in fact, by the impact of an airbag in Hernandez-Rossy’s vehicle. Hernandez-Rossy’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Buffalo. The investigation is the second time[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Dec 14

2017

Police refused to cooperate in death probe

A review of internal Buffalo police records and state law raises questions over the refusal of two officers to cooperate with the attorney general’s office as it investigated the death of Wardel Davis during an encounter with the police in February. The two officers involved, Nicholas Parisi and Todd McAlister, refused to be interviewed by the attorney general’s office about the incident unless they were interviewed together. That’s despite a police department policy that states all employees have a “duty” to “extend their fullest cooperation” to outside agencies investigating possible officer misconduct. A spokesperson for the attorney general declined to comment on[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Oct 6

2017

Podcast: Researcher De’Jon Hall on police misconduct

For our latest Postcast, Daniela Porat interviewed De’Jon Hall, a co-author of a two-year study by UB and Cornell Law Schools alleging that the Buffalo police department engages in unconstitutional and discriminatory policing. With Porat’s recent investigation into illegal searches by a group of officers in the department’s Strike Force and Housing Units and public demands for more transparency on police checkpoints, the professionalism of city police and their treatment of people of color is the hot-button issue of the day. “When you stop me from driving to get to work downtown for no other reason than just to stop[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Sep 26

2017

City Hall agrees to increased police oversight

City officials, faced with growing concerns over the conduct of Buffalo police officers, agreed Tuesday to form a citizen advisory committee with Open Buffalo, an activist organization. The commitment came during a meeting of the Common Council’s Police Oversight Committee. Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda was in attendance and agreed to the advisory group. Details are to be worked out, and it is unclear whether the advisory panel will have any teeth. “I think [it will] provide more opportunities for folks in our community to be heard and for the police and council members [to] hear more directly from the community[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Sep 25

2017

Buffalo police sued in fatal shooting

The family of Jose Hernandez-Rossy, the man who was fatally shot by police in May, has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Buffalo and the police department. The lawsuit alleges that Housing Unit officers Justin Tedesco and Joseph Acquino conducted an illegal stop and search of Hernandez-Rossy and used unjustified deadly force against him. According to the complaint, Hernandez-Rossy was unarmed and dragged from his car and beaten by the two officers prior to the shooting. On Wednesday Investigative Post reported on cases involving a group of officers from Strike Force and the Housing Unit, including[...]

Posted 7 years ago
Investigative Post