If the City of Buffalo establishes a duty to intervene law for its police officers, it will be named "Cariol's Law" after former officer Cariol Holloman-Horne.
She was fired 14 years ago after an incident that she describes as stopping a fellow officer from using a chokehold on a handcuffed suspect.
The hearing officer who recommended she be fired in 2008 said Horne “created a substantial danger to the lives of all involved in the incident" and displayed "unwarranted use of physical force to intervene" and "extreme lack of professionalism."
The Common Council made the naming decision Tuesday during its Legislation Committee meeting, "knowing that the call from the community is to name it Cariol's Law," said Common Council President Darius G. Pridgen, who represents the Ellicott District.
"We are indicating to people advocating for it that we plan on naming it Cariol's Law once we vote on it," said Legislation Committee Chairman Joel P. Feroleto, who represents the North District.
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The city's Law Department is expected to provide a draft of the local ordinance during the Council's business meeting on Tuesday . If approved, Cariol's Law would require Buffalo police officers to intercede when they believe unreasonable force is being used against a civilian by another police officer.
Due to the legislative process, it will likely take at least six weeks for the draft of Cariol's Law to come before the Council for a vote approving it as a local law, Feroleto said. All nine Council members have voiced their support of at least the concept of such a law.
The Buffalo Police Department has a duty to intervene policy – not a law – that went into effect last year as part of the department's updated use of force policy with accreditation and updated guidelines from the state. The policy states, "any officer present and observing another officer using force that he/she reasonably believes to be clearly beyond that which is objectively reasonable under the circumstances shall intercede to prevent the use of unreasonable force, if and when the officer has a realistic opportunity to prevent harm."
But in the wake of protests this year in Buffalo over the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police and over alleged police brutality and institutional racism in Buffalo, community members have asked that the policy be made into law.
Holloman-Horne, who also lost her full pension when she lost her job, emerged as a vocal advocate for police reform in the protests in Buffalo.
Before Tuesday's Legislation Committee meeting, Council members had been using the term "duty to intervene" when discussing such a law, which riled some community members, leaders and Holloman-Horne's organizing team "Justice for Cariol Horne."
Last Wednesday, "Justice for Cariol Horne" issued a press release calling on Council members to commit to naming such an ordinance "Cariol's Law."
"The proposed 'Duty to Intervene Policy' is NOT the same as Cariol’s Law. Members of the Council are reprehensibly using semantics to mislead constituents into thinking they are one and the same," the release said.
"Refusing to say her name while discussing her is the same erasure tactic as removing Cariol’s name from her proposed Law," according to the release.
