The controversial case of Cariol Horne

   Fired Buffalo Police Officer Cariol Horne claimed she scuffled with a white officer to keep him from choking a black suspect police were trying to arrest during a domestic dispute. A hearing officer and a Police Department deputy commissioner disagreed, bringing Horne's nearly 20-year career to a close Thursday when the department dismissed her.

   Her firing followed a long, drawn-out -- and at times bizarre -- disciplinary hearing that took several twists. The police union pulled back from representing Horne. Her lawyers, without any evidence, accused Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson of being a drug addict, prompting him to recuse himself while reportedly pondering a lawsuit of his own. And the hearing officer abruptly ended proceedings when Horne's lawyers failed to produce more witnesses.

   But hovering over it all is the long-simmering question of police treatment of suspects, particularly minority suspects.

   Horne's supporters say she intervened to save a life, and some call her a hero. The department says there was no evidence of abuse, and that she could have alerted superiors at the scene if she thought the arrest was getting out of hand.

   As the case now heads to the courts and some Horne supporters ponder civil disobedience, what do you think? Was Cariol Horne a hero who deserves her job back? Or was the department right to fire her for violating departmental procedures and interfering with the arrest?

-- Rod Watson

Comments

[DoubleB]

Troy - you get a life. You think you are so intellegent that a police department wont hire you?

I never said I was "pitying the flat foot" either. I am aware that police officers made the decision to become just that. No police department needs a parasite such as this woman. Her career record shows it all - more time out than time put in.

[please]

Go down south into coal country, see how many "minorities" are there...see how cops treat POOR people, usually poor people are the ones stealing, lying, doing drugs or trying to fight or kill each other. Black/White, spare us the racist emptiness. The argument is not valid, it's stale. If minority people are having the most contact with cops at risk for not being treated "right" then they shouldn't be doing STUPID and illegal things. Wake up.

[please]

You know how you keep cops away from you? Don't do anything STUPID. Horne islucky she didn't get hurt or killed or get that other guy killed. She sounds like a lazy parasite not wanting to work, one of those bad apples that give the whole bunch a bad name keeping up stereotypes and racism. What a loser. So happy she got canned! Go Gipson! Right on for protecting your good cops, you are a hero!!!

[Troy Cumbo]

DoubleB -

Get a life. At no point when under U.S. jurisdiction are you ever separated from your rights. If you resist arrest, you may end up getting injured, but that's irrelevant.

From the beginning of the thread of the conversation you jumped into, I qualified my assessment with the assumption that Horne was telling the truth. If not, then she's just another nutbag cop and she deserved what she got. Big deal, cops flip out all the time.

But some people claimed that having a partner was paramount above any concern Horne may have had for the rights of the accused. And this is patently untrue.

And spare me the pity-the-flatfoot routine. They made the choice to become cops, and they knew what liabilities came with the benefits of statutory power they were granted. And if Jordan v. City of New London, CT is any indication, I couldn't be a cop anyway.

[TheJury]

Then we should be grateful that this small time crook was apprehended based upon your analogy of our crime rate too high. As far as parking tickets, I won't do business where they give tickets. No revenue, no raises. Its one way to beat the system.

[udontknowme]

Jury,

For our men and women in blue, who I might add make much more than the national average in pay, but statistically the "results" are also much more than the national average. But if we dont give the BPD a raise, they respond by harassing the taxpayers with parking tickets, traffic causing checkpoints and the attitude that it is the BPD versus the citizens of Buffalo.

check the criminal statisitics of the city: where are the results? God knows the police like results when it is contract time, but they are seemingly lacking when it comes to lowering the crime rate:

http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=Buffalo&state=NY

[DoubleB]

Hey Troy, I have a GREAT idea!! How about we tell the Buffalo Police that when they are arresting someone, they have to very nicely say, "I'm going to arrest you, would you kindly place your hands behind your back for me?" Then if the person starts to resist they should offer them a hug and once again ask them to cooperate. GET A LIFE TROY! These people don't have rights when they are fighting with police officers. This isn't a time of giving flowers and hugs and making friends. When an officer is making an arrest it is because SOMEONE BROKE THE LAW... It is NOT an easy job and you are giving more rights to criminals than to those who risk their lives every day to get them off the streets. Maybe you should become a police officer Troy and you can teach the world how to be kind and cooperative with eachother.

[Annoyed at Ignorance]

Troy-

Are you forgetting the fact that this supposed "victim" that was getting arrested was a FRIEND of Ms. Horne's.... I think that the fact they were friends is exactly why she was trying to stop the arrest. He was out of control and resisting arrest. When an officer is on duty and is making an arrest and the person is resisting force should be used. Try being a family member of a buffalo police officer. I am.. I used to worry whether or not my loved one was coming home every night he went on duty because of the scum in the city. These people don't value life they are criminals and deserve to be treated as such - because one wrong move from a police officer can and will cost them their life. Its amazing that other officers were on the scene of the incident and have spoken against Ms. Horne - that says it all to me... She didnt want her buddy arrested and she was going to fight for him instead of doing what was right.

[Troy Cumbo]

Annoyed -

It is a criminal act, not simply a procedural gaffe, to violate the rights of a suspect at any point during arrest or detainment. There is no excuse for it, ever, and there is no "partnership" in law enforcement that should compel an officer to turn a blind eye to it.

I find highly dubious the supposition that a police officer would without cause attack their partner.

I find it more likely that the police would rather sweep aside a whistleblower than acknowledge that the same force that harassed the city with ticketing and absenteeism while it protested the wage freeze has officers that are so unglued that other officers have to restrain them.

It's possible Horne is just a nutjob, but I find that possibility slightly less likely.

But as I said before, we will likely never know the truth of this matter.

[TheJury]

The audacity, the cunning and the swiftness of the seasoned criminal in Buffalo require a quicker response especially when the criminal refuses to cooperate. The team arriving at a scene should be a unified one. Unity should not be selective for one's own personal desires but for the good of the community. This fellow's actions required police intervention and should have been viewed as such until he was under control especially since it was a domestic. The fact that he was also arrested a month after this incident should be a wake up call that he obviously doesn't care about anyone. Ms. Horne should take note.

[Annoyed at Ignorance]

This is in response to Christian N Proudofit - Why do you people always have to bring the race card in? Where you a slave? Was Cariole Horne a slave? Were we white people selling you? NO!! The woman is a piece of garbage who didn't do her job! How would you like to be a cop, go to a domestic, try and arrest someone who is resisting and have your partner WHO IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE YOUR BACK attack you??? She deserved to be fired. There were other police officers there that testified against her for her actions. She has been on disability and out sick more times than she has gone to work. I am sick of paying for garbage to make more money than me and I GO TO WORK EVERY DAY!!! I am a mother, a wife and I work hard to give my family a decent life. Why is it ok for this garbage to get away with what she did?? She needed to be fired and doesnt deserve ANYTHING. Maybe she should get a work ethic like most of us have and stop expecting handouts.

[BuffaloCitizenQPublic]

- Yes, she deserves to be rehired!

- The duty of police officers is to PROTECT and serve the CITIZENS. Cariol Horne’s action was definitely within that realm. And, it was obviously her humanity that propelled her to prevent a possible death.

- It should be noted that the call to the police was of a domestic nature. Police tactics and techniques should be appropriate for the situation.

- Too many Buffalo police officers routinely seem to use an iron fist and disrespectful approach for every incident.

- This is not to discount the dangerous aspects of their jobs and their need for caution.

- However, there certainly are times when an application of respectful, basic people skills and professionalism can render the desired results. (That would include the discontinuance of using the “F” word as if it is a mandatory part of most of their directives.)

- Suburban officers appear to have that recognition.

- In Buffalo it may basically be a case of different strokes for different folks.

[TheJury]

My bet is that most cops, Ms. Horne included, are wondering if they will come home every night with all their faculties and not like Ms. Parete rather than worrying about their pensions. The nights in Buffalo are scarey for man, woman and beast with all sorts of trouble lurking about. Crook's and criminal's pleasures and right to respect are pretty low in my book especially when they resist arrest, brandish a gun or try to intimidate authority. You do wrong and you get punished is how it works every place, not just Buffalo. My guess is that if you have never known the BPD for all those reasons, you're probably hanging with the wrong crowd.

[udontknowme]

I never have known The BPD for being morally upright.
I have never known the BPD to care about the citizens that they protect.
Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect are not a part of their actions when dealing with the citizens of Buffalo.

I know the only thing they think of is their paycheck and pension.

They just were not thinking of Ms. Horne's pension!!!

Carol,

Go borrow some cash from Pat McDonald!!

[TheJury]

She can't have it both ways. Days of women using their femininity as a weakness are over. Equal rights, buddy. Her job is to serve and protect. If she needs that much protection perhaps she should ask her husband and should have had a different career. She lied and she did wrong. Simple with not hate intended.

[Christian N. Proudofit]

Some of the most (seemingly) hateful, vicious, vindictive, divisive- and yes: childish- commentary I have read in years. Is it only here in Buffalo? Some of the comments are beyond mean-spirited, they are disturbing...cruel. WHY so much nastiness? I sit because Horne is a woman, a black American, wore a badge, is a mom to 5 kids...? WHY? When men display animosity (never mind THIS much animosity), it reveals something...about THEM. Do you teach your (own) children to hate other people, the way you (obviously) do? And WHY precisely is it that you hate...other people. Is it because they are of another ethnicity and/or an ethnicity concerning which you wish to feel superior? IF I were your wife, I would be worried. Men are designed by our Creator to be PROTECTORS of women, not 'haters'. You need, some of you, to check yourself. You're sick, and (obviously) might not know it.

[buffalo]

Barton, you read too much into skin color. It's bout an idiot who endangered another officer. Period.

[buffalo]

It's so tiring of listening to this "minority tirade", people are treated according to their EDUCATION LEVEL, not their skin color. White trash gets treated the same as any other color trash. There's always complaints there isn't enough "diversity", well, I hate to break the news to you, people have to go to college to get jobs folks. No matter what skin color you have. Horne is a parasite, lazy, uneducated idiot. Good riddance, she was a wart on the force.

[?]

Soooo..Maybe she didn't want to get her kids "friend" hurt? What's so wrong with that? (sarcasm) Now why was he arrested a month later?

[buffalo]

And please people, let's forget this bogus Black vs White NONSENSE, she's lucky she didn't get shot by jumping on another cop's back. What an idiot. I think it's great she got slapped by the department. Maybe she can give speeches on how to screw yourself.

[buffalo]

Horne is a pice of garbage. She doesn't earn the any right to wear that badge, she should have been fired a long time ago. She is a liar, it doesn't matter what color she is, a liar and a lazy parasite off the system. Her kids have been arrested for drugs and the cops have been called to her address for drug related crap. She should move. She is a black mark on the city's finest good name. Good for Gipson for axing her!

[Barton Keyes]

Talk about a perfect storm of hot issue buttons to push in this case:
# A woman police officer up against a male dominated organization.
# A black cop versus a white cop.
# A police officer violating the sacred blue wall of silence about internal police business.
# The issue of how police treat minority suspects.
With all these explosive issues, it has become almost irrelevant as to whether there was sufficient evidence to arrest the suspect or whether the arresting officer used only suffucent force to subdue the suspect. And very view are raising the issue as to whether the Buffalo Police Dept. should allow use of the controversial "choke hold" to control suspects.
Once race and sex enter the mix, all other issues apparently are forgotten. That is America today.

[Danno]

From everything I've read she was a bad cop and deserves to go. Assaulting your fellow officers during an arrest is not a good idea. Nor is accusing the Police Commissioner of being a crackhead, even if you let your lawyers do it for you.

She can try to play the race card all she likes, but she hasn't got much support among Buffalo's black community.

As far as the pension goes, too bad if she doesn't qualify. I'd like to know how much time she spent on disability while pregnant with those five children.

Good bye and good riddance.

[?]

Why does it show that Ms Horne is an agent at Clanton Real Estate in Buffalo if she was a police officer or can cops hold two jobs at once? Or am I wrong?

[TheJury]

Just wondering. Don't know the lady but do all her kids have the same daddy? Is she married or a "single mom" ie.not widowed? Is she collecting all sorts of child support in addition to her salary? Has she ever been on welfare and gotten a free education at the taxpayer's loss? Is that how she got her job? Single mom? Lots of kids? No Daddy? Just wondering if there are any other freebies in her history. Some people make a lifetime of ingratitude and living on the dole with endless hystrionics of the injustice of it all and how society just hasn't done them right. Maybe a little bit of narcissicism on Ms. Hornes part perhaps? Only she knows for sure.

[OP Mike]

Well here we go again. Some Hyphenated-American (African-American, Female-American,etc.) gets the ax and immediately it's all about racism, sexism or some other nonsense. Maybe old Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson will fly into Buffalo to join Samuel Radford III and jump on the latest anti-white, anti-male, anti-everything bandwagon.
And exactly how many years has officer Horne really worked for the taxpayers? In the Friday edition of the Buffalo News it was stated that Horne was dismissed from the police force in 2000 and is suing for five years back pay. Also, she has been off the job since November 2006. And according to a Police Department attorney, she has at least another year of "uncredited time". Seems like Horne has actually "worked" on the force for something less than thirteen years, when all of her off-work time is calculated. Smells like just another taxpayer scam job going on here.
Oh yes, about this dangerous job stuff that some have mentioned. Police Officer doesn't come close to making the top ten list. The top ten most dangerous jobs in the US are: logging workers; aircraft pilots; fishers and fishing workers; structural iron and steel workers; refuse and recyclable materials collectors; farmers and ranchers; roofers; electrical power line installers and repairers; truck driver, taxi driver and chauffeur; sales worker. A sales worker is four times more likely to be the victim of a homicide than a police officer.
Let's face it, by all the facts we know today, Horne got the ax the old fashion way; she earned it.

[TheJury]

Maybe Horne is a person who just likes to jump to conclusions and take matters into her own hands and put herself above what should have been done by calling her supervisor. She feels compelled to take some matters into her own hands like taking control of other people's children when she should have been minding her own business especially since she has 5 of her own to mind. Sounds like she has a history too.

[Lydia Bezou-Hojnacki]

We seem to forget the case of, maybe, 20 years ago, the guy who was stopped near Forest Lawn Cemetery, and was killed when subdued by the neck. Kwiatowski should be thankful he was stopped from exercising undue force.

Maybe, though, Horne should have grabbed the suspect's feet to help her partner. This really sounds more like a case of Kwiatowski being embarrassed at being forced by a woman to ease up on another man he wanted to subdue by himself.

Sexism, not racism, people!

[TheJury]

Keywords...might be right. Anyone who abused the system and lied to boot about disability should be questioned to the hilt on any matters in question. Takers and givers. Which one is she? The opportunity to support or report a fellow officer was given up when she jumped from behind on her partner's back. Her judgement is obviously flawed and her protection of this two bit criminal is highly suspect. Did she have a personal gain in his future endeavors? At the very minimum her credibility is in serious question in my book. The jury has spoken.

[kevin]

this is sad but true the police have thier own laws & rules ///a landlord stole tools from me but when i call the police he knew them amd i was wrong//they impounded a van of mine 2 where ?they drove it away never seen again (no help) on 9 times i called the police 4 a drug dealer making crackheads steal thing out of vacant houses (gave proof and probule cause they did nothing)on broadway hookers turn tricks under the NEW cams ,,,the police drive arond on there cell phones giving tickets 2 people driving using there phones //and last but not lest how hard is it 2 roll up on that group of men standing on that corner after seeing them all shift standing in the same spot ,,,now as 4 ms horne u dont need CSI 2 see she mite be RIGHT

[outraged at the tone of hate]

People in buffalo get defensive when it's said thet buffalo is one of the most racist cities in america well the comments on this and other blogs bleeds with racist comments the horne case asside it's about time we face our bigotry issue and get rid of it because like it or not we all have to live here .Lastly to the people who keep insinuating that the hiring of minorities brings about a lesser workforce thats why we need safeguards because no matter how qualified the person is someand from the tone of this blog most will see skin color and deem the person not competent thats a sad state of affairs we live in.

[bball_Coach]

Chain of Command! Before attacking a fellow officer / soldier contact the immediate supervisor. All officers have a radio starpped to them at all times, you cannot tell me pushing a button and saying "I need a supervisor @ xyz" would not have stopped the 'assault'? When someone is terminated that close to retirement, there is more to the story. What BFD did was take some 'shout' to the stain on the department and remove it.

[Samuel Radford, MMM BLAC]

There is a REASON why the Buffalo Police Dept. is under a Federal Consent Decree. The U.S. Dept. of Justice decided in 2002 that police brutality, bad management, lack of training, poor internal investigations, unnecessary use of excessive force and overuse of CAP spray was reason enough to provide federal oversight. So what we see happening to Officer Horne is not new. It is the culture of the Buffalo Police Dept. There is simply no way to justify firing her in this case. She loses her job, healthcare and pension, two months short of retirement because she cared enough to attempt to help a fellow officer and a Citizen in need. This decision clearly sends a message that the same policies that lead to the consent decree are dominating the culture of this dept. and any time an Officer crosses the BLUE LINE they will be dealt with severly.
THE CITY OF BUFFALO IS LESS SAFE because of this decision. The City is under federal oversight because citizens have not effectively held leadership accountable. We have sat by and let the BLUE LINE justify abuse and brutality in our community. POLICE ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW. Please Don't forget that this whole incident started because of what a Buffalo City Court Judge has called an UNAUTHORIZED ARREST. To this day the officers have not been held accountable for the false arrest, Brutalizion and unnecessary use of CAP spray on NEAL MACK. This case is a microcosm of everything that the U.S. Dept of Justice said is a problem in this dept. Brutality, Lack of training, use of force, bad management, use of CAP spray and a poor internal investigation. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH the only way this is going to stop is that we send a mesage as clear as the message that they sent by firing officer Horne. Peaceful CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE until Justice Prevails fearing no one by GOD.

[Sam Nirvana]

I hear that Officer Home is going to also sue God next for creating such a tough and ufair world.

[Brian]

Her lawyer looks like Asante Samuel! Perhaps Troy Palamalou?

[Jack B.]

"the color of the Mayor and Commissioner did not provide a fair unbiased outcome for this police officer"

How the hell could you possibly know if this was or was not a "fair and unbiased outcome"?
Were you present at the incident?
Were you part of this investigation?
Or are you simply making assumptions behind the veil of "black rage" that the minority here is some kind of victim.
The constant and relentless "playing of the race card" is single-handedly setting back race relations in this country, and people like you who propigate are the agents of the division.

wake up...nobody wants to constantly here others cry victim without any type of insider knowledge...it's the Sharpton Doctrine and it is more destructive than productive.

[Buffalo Man]

That is because you are not aware that the position of Police Office is a 20in then out pension. The rest of us work jobs that are not as demanding and don't require us to put our live's on the line everyday just by being what we are. Police officers retire at 20 years.

[JSP]

Well, I seriously question the very idea that someone in this day and age can consider "retiring" at 40 years of age! LOL....Cmon, she got waht she deserves. She was booted in the past as well! Go work for another 30 years like the rest of us.

[Hodge]

What fascinates me is that every opinion on here seems to come from people who were not there at the scene when this event occurred, yet everybody is absolutely certain either that (A)The man's life was endangered and Horne did the right thing, or (B)Nothing out of the ordinary happened and Horne did the wrong thing. Her story will not change, Kwiatkowski's story will not change, and everybody on the outside is convinced they know exactly what happened, based on media reports and what "everybody" is saying, or based on what happened to them or their family/ friends/acquaintances at some other time. And from this, they judge the persons involved, the courts, the PD, the mayor, and the entire city of Buffalo. I don't know what really happened that day, and I doubt that 99% of the people expressing their dearly-held opinions do either. Expressing an opinion of a current event based on anecdotes, hearsay, past history or so-called "common knowledge" has become the new local sport. No matter what our ethnic background, if we like the outcome of any case, the system is fair and unbiased, and if we don't like it, it's biased, unfair and discriminatory. This reflects badly on all of us, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or any other quality you care to name.

[Upset over the upset]

"How can these morons protest based on race when the man who fired her is black as well? Stupid Posted by: Sal | May 09, 2008 at 09:39 AM" according to law and past practice, you can be treated different ly than your counterpart from a different ethnic group by someone of your own ethnic group and it is just as illegal and triable in court "STUPID" (look it up), the ethnic background of the actor does not keep them from committing the same offense, since the beginning og the enslavement of Africans by Europeans there have been other Africans that have contributed to the situation, having a African Mayor and African Commissioner of Police does not change anything but the color of the person in the seat, it is the actions of that person that make a difference, in this case, the color of the Mayor and Commissioner did not provide a fair unbiased outcome for this police officer, for you history buffs, look into the academy class that Officer Horne was in, it was the largest in the history of the academy due to the City of Buffalo having to make up for past descriminatory hiring practices, her firing was just business as usual.

[Lydia Bezou-Hojnacki]

What I think we have all failed to see is that Horne would have been complicit in a homicide if she had let the other officer kill the person he was choking.

I wonder how high up through the court system this case will go?

[North]

The saddest thing about this is the fact that people are saying it a racist thing... Why does it have to be made into a race thing... I don't know the whole story I admit it but no matter what color a person is if they "mess" up on the job they should be reprimanded. STOP making excuses FORGET the racism.. You make your own destiny...

[JRed]

Once again we see the "city" make their usual wrong call about something. If this woman had only 2 months till her retirement with benefits, doesn't it show she had worked hard and long for many years ? Personally I am tired of all this racism crap but if YOU were the one getting abused during an arrest, wouldn't YOU want someone to intervene ??? I bet if all the people involved were white, we'd have never heard about any of this and nobody would have gotten screwed out of their deserved retirement. Just 2 months ???? Go Buffalo, you should be proud......

[Troy Cumbo]

"Officer Cariol is a good person and I do not know her personally, but I do know that she housed and fed a teenage mother who was expecting another child when the young girl was kicked out of her mothers' house. That does not sound like a person who intentionally wants to hurt another."

No, but this does sound perhaps like a person with an inflated sense of social justice. While this may make her a good person, even an asset to her community, it can also serve to make her a poor officer of the law.

I don't know enough about the story, and the police are an insular enough organization, and the politics of Buffalo so unabashedly corrupt, that I *could* believe her side, however off put I am by the lack of supporting witnesses.

Whether this is a social crusader who took her personal mission too far, or a vocal whistleblower being jettisoned by an organization interested in protecting its own, I don't know (and we may never know for certain), but I doubt that the department would have fired her if it didn't think it had the ammo to withstand the inevitable civil suits.

[mike]

GOOD! It's about time they finally got rid of her. A racially-motivated attack on a white fellow officer?? When will we learn that the wages of affirmative-action don't pay? Guilty white libeals hire unqualified minorities, the minorities then band together in a racial subgroup, decrying every example of their own incompetence or unfitness as racist, all the while displaying ingratitude and contempt for the numerous breaks they get. Same old, same old.

Affirmative action does not work. It never has. It never will.

This isn't over yet, though, She'll sue until some liberal judge awards her a fat pension at taxpayer expense.

Decent folk will just have to either shut up and pay for all this, or move to North Carolina like so many others have.

[You're wrong]

Sammy, your analogy of Officer Horne taking in a teen who not only had one child but was pregnant with another is a perfect example of her interference. Her own mother had kicked her out of the house probably to teach her a lesson and this meddler takes the child in as if she is a better determiner than the child's own mother. There are plenty of agencies that would have taken this child in and "taught" her lessons about raising a child, surviving etc. Apparently the mom felt getting kicked out would force her to learn about the real world and this authority butts in. Who the heck does this cop think she is?!!!

[Nick]

Sal...he may be black, but he probably isn't "BLACK" in their eyes, just a part of the machine.

[Nick]

Oh no, there is no way the now terminated officer could have done ANYTHING wrong. It's the BPD's fault, it always is. Ask the NYPD it's always their fault too. Apparently all police departments are inherently racist and it is impossible for any minority to get a fair shake from them whether they are getting arrested or doing the arresting. Ask Al Sharpton he knows all about that. Why isn't there a blog about how her lawyer should be sued for slander for calling someone a cocaine user from out of no where.

[Sal]

How can these morons protest based on race when the man who fired her is black as well? Stupid

[Jack B.]

Respectfully, is any minority ever guilty of the charges leveled against them? The default reaction seems to be complain, protest, and ultimately riot whenever a minority is convicted in any high-profile case. Is it possible, just maybe, that Ms. Horne's actions were in fact innappropriate and dangerous?

[sammy]

I cannot believe that this officer would jeopardize her career if she did not truly believe that Officer Kwiatkowski was endangering the life of a criminal. Officer Cariol is a good person and I do not know her personally, but I do know that she housed and fed a teenage mother who was expecting another child when the young girl was kicked out of her mothers' house. That does not sound like a person who intentionally wants to hurt another. You cannot expect or even think that the officers are going to support her because they still have to go to work with those who oppose her. I do believe that Buffalo was listed as one of the most racist/prejudiced cities in which to live by Essence or Ebony magazine. The city definitely needs to continue its efforts to hire minorities who are qualified for the jobs. I say we review how many complaints of minorities pulled over for no reason by "Buffalo's Finest "

[DISGUSTED]

How many,many officers are on paid leave? Many who are perfectly fine they know the system and abuse it....What does it take to get fired, I know of a buffalo police officer who attacked a neighbor off duty and all the charges were said to be "unfounded" This is with several witnesses and interviews....disgusting... ....The Buffalo police need to do a clean sweep...maybe also hire physicaly fit officers half the women can not even get in and out of their cars ,they are so large. Many of the male officers are huge too...officer horne did do the right thing, but also had problems with her job prior? Many of the buffalo civil servants believe they deserve handouts most feel intitled , WHY IS THAT? because they passed a test??

[ms]

another thought is just another civil servent (sarcastism here)trying to get more than what they deserve...

[Mike Straw]

why is it when her own colleagues on the police force won't side with her, an outside group(s) think they know? Racism will always live in Buffalo with people like Samuel Radford III and others opening their mouths when things don't go a black persons way. Did these so-called "Community leaders" ever think that Horne was wrong?!?!

[Mike]

Carol Horne- a bad employee. Officer Horne seems to have spent much of her career on paid leave.How many active years did she actually serve.Black, White or Purple, she was just an embarrassment to the BPD.

[mary ann]

SO TYPICAL-FIND A WAY TO SCREW SOMEONE OUT OF THEIR RETIREMENT SO THAT THE EMPLOYER DOESN'T HAVE TO PAY! PATHETIC! I AGREE THAT THIS OFFICER SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO RETIRE AND RECEIVE HER FULL BENEFITS. NO ONE REALLY CARES OUT THERE TO DO THE RIGHT THING-YES, THE RIGHT THING!!SHAME ON YOU! I'VE SEEN THIS HAPPEN MANY TIMES BEFORE! THE WORKING CLASS ALWAYS ARE THE SACRIFICIAL LAMBS. DOES ANYONE CARE THAT THIS OFFICER WILL HAVE NOTHING AFTER WORKING HER 25-30 YEARS? THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE-ITS HAPPENED TO MY FAMILY-MIDDLE CLASS WHITE AMERICAN! THIS IS BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT/BIG BUSINESS IS ALLOWED TO DO IT! AGAIN, SHAME ON YOU FOR LETTING IT HAPPEN!

[bobbycat]

Officer Home had nothing to gain by intervening except to do the right thing. The fact that the other officers closed ranks and kept quiet and upheld the blue wall of silence should surprise no one. Was the hearing officer born yesterday?

Firing an officer within months of retirement for doing what she did is another stain on Buffalo's ethically challenged Police Dept. If anyone should be canned is H.McCarthy Gibson for allowing this travesty to play-out. Where is the Mayor hiding? Where is the leadership? Does anyone have any courage besides Officer Home?

[Buffalo Bill]

I can't believe it. Just one more idiotic decision to come out of Buffalo!
Is this not a judgment call?
This officer made a decision to act on what she believed was right and proper.I hope sometime in the future if someone I know is in a ugly situation such as this There is a Cariol Horne to intercede.