Cariol Horne Open Letter To The NYS Comptroller

Ms. Cariol J. Horne 143 St. Louis Street | Buffalo, New York 14211 (716) 544-6776 E-Mail: carioljhorne@aol.com

December 12, 2016

Honorable Thomas P. DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller Office of the State Comptroller Albany Office 110 State Street Albany, NY 12236 Re:

Request for Re-Evaluation/Determination of Disability Pension Application/NYS Police & Fire Retirement System Buffalo Police Officer Cariol J. Horne (Former)

Hon. Thomas P. DiNapoli: By this letter, I kindly request that your office undertake a review, re-evaluation or reconsideration of a disability application that I filed with the Office of the State Comptroller/NYS Police & Fire Retirement System in September 2007 while I was employed as a Police Officer with the City of Buffalo. I submit this request to you, along with the support of approximately 170,000 others from nearly 20 countries. Attached to this letter, and incorporated by reference, are two volumes of signatures evidencing the broad international support of my instant request.

For reasons more fully set forth below, I contend that the determination of denial of my pension application by the NYS Police and Fire Retirement System was clearly erroneous because the sole reason cited for the denial was that “I caused my own injuries� while on duty at a November 1, 2006 incident involving the wrongful arrest of David Neal Mack.

Briefly, on November 1, 2006 I responded to an incident at the residence of David Neal Mack while on duty as a 19-year veteran Police Officer. During the difficult arrest of Mr. Mack, I believed that a fellow officer seriously threatened the life of Mr. Mack by the use of a choke- hold.

I intervened in the situation, without any type of assault on any of my fellow officers, to get Mr. Mack released from the potentially deadly choke-hold. I suffered serious injuries during this onthe-job incident, a fact that is undisputed by medical records that are in the custody of the NYS Police and Fire Retirement System.

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Honorable Thomas P. DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller Office of the State Comptroller

(Continued)

My intervention on behalf of Mr. Mack on November 1, 2006 resulted in me facing a myriad of disciplinary charged by the Buffalo Police Department. After a turbulent departmental hearing, the due process of which remains questionable, I was terminated. Based on the record of the departmental administrative hearing, the NYS Police and Fire Retirement System came to the conclusion that the injuries I suffered at the residence of Mr. Mack on November 1, 2006 were caused by me and rejected my application for a work-related-injury disability pension.

Since my termination and the denial of my disability pension application a number of events have taken place that raise questions about the veracity and legitimacy of the denial of my disability pension application: the officer who held Mr. Mack in a choke-hold has since been pled guilty on federal civil rights violation charges for behavior similar to the behavior he exhibited on November 1, 2006 with Mr. Mack; another Buffalo Police Officers who testified against me at the departmental hearing concocting stories about the November 1, 2006 incident that simply were not true have been fired by the Buffalo Police Department because of illegal behavior; the NYS State Supreme Court Judge who heard several of my appeals was found to be corrupt and forced to resign from the bench and accept a suspension of his law license; and, finally, the NYS Comptroller at the time of my application proved to be corrupt, forced out of office and sent to jail. The balance of equities, given the corruption associated with those who had a significant role in determining the outcome of my previous application, weighs in favor of your office undertaking a review of your office’s previous determination.

Since the initial denial of my application, I have been attempting to obtain the disability pension that I believe I should have been granted retroactive to my September 2007 application date. The unfortunate events leading to the death of Eric Gardner, and others who death were caused by circumstances involving possible police abuse of power, has raised a new public awareness of the importance of police officers intervening to stop police misconduct on the streets, particularly where the death of a civilian could result.

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Honorable Thomas P. DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller Office of the State Comptroller

(Continued)

A great deal of media coverage regarding by situation with the Buffalo Police Department can be found on the web, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: please google or search “Cariol Horne.�

Family, friends, concerned community members, and I continue to seek a fair and reasonable resolution to my situation---which begins with a reconsideration of the disability pension application that I submitted in September of 2007. I greatly appreciate the work of your office and look forward to your respond to this request.

Sincerely,

/s/ Cariol J. Horne _________________________________________________ Cariol J. Horne

Enc

170,000 Signature Petition (in two volumes) Letter dated May 18, 2015 by 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care

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