In each of the nine cases, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent agency that investigates police misconduct, recommended that the Police Department pursue the strongest form of punishment for the officers: an administrative trial, which could lead to termination.
But the police commissioner has the final say in such cases, and in all but one of the cases decided, the officers were not disciplined, or were given the lightest possible sanction: a review of the rules.
The department’s response in the nine cases, documented in monthly reports by the board, raised uncomfortable questions for the Police Department, which prohibits chokeholds because of the risk of serious injury or death, but in practice appears to treat the maneuver as little more than a lapse.
How the department treats officers in such situations has come under new scrutiny after the death of the Staten Island man, Eric Garner, who was held by an officer in an apparent chokehold on Thursday. The officer, Daniel Pantaleo, was stripped of his badge and gun as an investigation into the death goes on.
Video of the arrest, apparently for selling untaxed cigarettes, appeared to show Officer Pantaleo wrapping his arm around the neck of Mr. Garner, who had been arguing with officers and objecting to being arrested. The two men fell to the ground, and other officers joined in restraining Mr. Garner as he said he was not able to breathe.
The two emergency medical technicians and the two paramedics who responded to Mr. Garner have been suspended without pay, the Richmond University Medical Center said Monday.
Both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said the video appeared to show a chokehold.