When fired from the Buffalo Police Department in 2008, Cariol Horne was a year shy of the 20 years on the job the state requires to receive a full pension.
For 13 years, she fought to get that pension.
On Wednesday night, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation that provides it to Horne.
"New York owes Cariol Horne a debt of gratitude for her service to the Buffalo community and for her bravery in a moment of crisis," Hochul said in a statement. "I am proud to sign this law, which will correct a longstanding injustice and ensure that Officer Horne is treated with the dignity and respect she deserves."
A court ruling this past April from State Supreme Court Justice Dennis Ward in Horne’s civil suit against the city vacated her firing and ordered back pay and vesting of her 20-year pension.
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Her firing stemmed from a violent arrest in November 2006 on Walden Avenue, as police officers attempted to push a suspect out of his house. Horne said she saw another officer put the man in a chokehold and she fought the officer to stop what she considered unreasonable force. The other officer denied choking the man during the arrest, and the Buffalo Police Department cleared the other officer of all charges. After Horne rejected a four-day suspension for her role in the altercation, an arbitrator eventually found her guilty on 11 of 13 internal charges and she was fired.
Her story gained national attention amid the uproar over the 2020 murder of George Floyd, who died when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
The legislation signed by the governor, sponsored by Sen. Tim Kennedy and Assembly Majority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, gives Horne credit from the date of her termination, July 6, 2008, until Aug. 5, 2010. It goes into effect immediately and Horne has one year to file for the benefits.
“Thank you to Cariol Horne for her unwavering service to our community and her refusal to stand by and watch injustice occur, no matter the cost. After years of being penalized for doing the right thing, I was proud to sponsor this legislation to provide her with the retirement pension she earned and deserves," Kennedy said in a statement.
“Her act of bravery cost Officer Horne her career. Fortunately, justice has prevailed," Peoples-Stokes said.
Under New York State law, local police officers can retire after 20 years and receive a pension equal to 50% of their pay and health benefits.
Horne thanked her supporters, including politicians and her attorneys.
"Like Beyoncé said in the song 'Freedom,' 'I’ma keep running cause a winner don’t quit on themselves.' That is for everyone who played a part in keeping me uplifted, helping me create change and get to this point, especially all of the people who prayed and Activists. Faith without works is dead," Horne said in a text message.
Last year, amid Black Lives Matter protests in Buffalo and across the nation, Horne advocated for a series of laws that would require officers to intercede when another officer is using excessive force, protect whistleblower cops and also provide retroactive protections for officers who intervene or report other officers. She called it "Cariol's Law."
In the fall of 2020, the Buffalo Common Council passed "Cariol's Law" and Mayor Byron Brown signed it into law.
In his April ruling, Ward cited Horne's efforts to intervene to stop what she considered unreasonable force in the Walden Avenue arrest.
"Recent events in the national news, including the death last year in the City of Minneapolis of George Floyd, who died from unreasonable physical force being applied for over nine minutes, have sparked national outrage over the use of his practice," Ward wrote in his 11-page ruling. "One of the issues in all of these cases is the role of other officers at the scene and particularly their complicity in failing to intervene to save the life of a person to whom such unreasonable physical force is being applied."
Now, police officers who intervene are considered heroes, Ward wrote.
"To her credit, Officer Horne did not merely stand by, but instead sought to intervene, despite the penalty she ultimately paid for doing so," Ward said.
Horne said her next goal is to make Cariol's Law a state law.
