NYPD slaps 7 cops involved in Bell shooting with disciplinary charges
Detectives Marc Cooper, Gescard Isnora and Michael Oliver, who were acquitted on April 25, showed up at Police Headquarters separately and were led into a room where they were handed a sheet of paper with the charges on them - and told to sign them.
Each was accused of firing their weapons outside of NYPD departmental guidelines - charges that could result in their being fired, police brass said.
Isnora also was charged with violating NYPD vice protocols by taking action as an undercover.
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Also in trouble is the detectives' hapless former commanding officer, Lt. Gary Napoli. He was not charged, but prosecutors accused him of incompetence.
Napoli was hit with departmental charges for not preparing an adequate tactical plan before he sent his undercover officers into action. "It was his show and he blew it," a police source said.
Another cop who shot at Bell but was not indicted - Officer Michael Carey - was charged with violating departmental rules on discharging a weapon, sources said. Two crime scene detectives, Sgt. Huey McNeil and Detective Robin Knapp, were accused of compromising the crime scene.
Knapp was charged with failure to process the scene correctly and McNeil with failing to supervise the processing of the scene correctly.
Officer Paul Headley, who also shot at Bell but escaped criminal charges, has not been hit with an additional departmental charge, said his lawyer John Arlia.
Oliver, Isnora and Cooper remain on modified duty - stripped of their guns and badges.
As Rev. Al Sharpton said, this is a step in the right direction. These officers should not escape accountability. So far, this is a positive step by the NYPD. We will see where these charges lead.
