Constance Malcolm and Franclot Graham, the parents of Ramarley Graham, are upset because the NYPD officer who killed their son has received a substantial raise since Marley’s death.
34 year old Officer Richard Haste earned $88,614 in 2015 and has received $25K in raises since shooting and killing the unarmed 18 year old in 2012, according to The Huffington Post. Following the Bronx shooting, Haste was placed on desk duty and currently works in the department’s motor fleet division, fixing NYPD squad cars.
Before he was placed on desk duty, Haste raked in $53,000 with $9,000 in overtime pay and $4,800 in miscellaneous pay. Today, the officer has an earned salary of $76,000 with $2,000 in overtime pay and $10,147 in “other pay.” While the other pay hasn’t been specified, Al O’Leary, spokesman for the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, says Haste’s yearly pay are automatic because of his time on the force.
“I’m not surprised,” says Graham’s mother Constance Graham. “Whenever an officer kills an innocent person, she said, they seem to either get promoted or get a raise. It sends a message to other officers that they can get away with misconduct.”
Haste, with several other officers from the 43rd Precinct’s Street Crime Unit entered Graham’s Bronx home without a warrant after allegedly seeing him make a drug transaction at a nearby street corner. The officers alleged the teenager ran into the home to escape police, but surveillance cameras captured Graham walking calmly into his house and locking the door. Police kicked down the door and entered his bathroom as he was allegedly flushing marijuana down the toilet. Believing he was armed, Haste shot and killed the 18-year-old in front of his grandmother and six-year-old brother. Graham was unarmed and no guns were found in the home.
Little progress has been made involving the case. No officers have been charged with Graham’s death and the family received a $3.9 million settlement earlier this year. Despite the settlement, the family says they aren’t any closer to finding justice for their son.
