The city of Binghamton is rejecting a report by the state attorney general’s office finding a Binghamton police officer used excessive force during an arrest in January 2023.
The report from the Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigative Office recommended disciplinary action for Officer Brad Kaczynski, who knelt on Binghamton resident Hamail Waddell’s neck during an arrest in January 2023.
The city had 90 days to respond after the investigation was released in May. Attorneys for the city recently sent a letter to the state, refuting the findings and conclusions of the attorney general’s report.
The city said the videos and records the investigation relied on were “not the entire story,” and that the report includes “factual omissions and inaccuracies.”
“The omissions not only create a one-sided narrative with tunnel vision (or predetermined conclusion), but also significantly downplays the public safety issues captured on multiple videos of the events that evening, which the City released publicly,” wrote Shannon T. O’Connor, an attorney from Mancuso Brightman PLLC, the firm hired by the city to respond to the report.
The response did not get specific about any missing details or facts, but maintains that the officers involved in the arrest acted lawfully.
“The recommended discipline is not practical or appropriate, given past practice and the clear legal requirements of New York State Civil Service Law Section 75,” Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham said in a statement.
The city also took issue with criticisms by the attorney general’s office of the police internal investigation into the arrest, specifically recommending the city update its policy to include speaking with officers only after reviewing all the evidence. The city said that is already common practice, but the process was interrupted by the state investigation.
The city's response added that the city had already conducted a refresher course for all officers on policies such as use of force and duty to intervene, after the arrest.
“None of the recommendations listed in the OAG report would have prevented nor changed the circumstances or events of January 1, 2023," O’Connor wrote in the city’s response. “Simply put, officers responded to a chaotic, dangerous situation with rolling and assaultive behavior in the streets with the tools available to them."
Kraham said the city is constrained from adding specific details about the incident because of a pending criminal trial against Waddell. Waddell is facing charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is set for September.
Kaczynski was put on administrative duty after the incident. He suffered an unrelated medical emergency in July and was hospitalized. According to a social media group created by Kaczynski’s friends and family, he will be transferred to a long-term neurological rehab facility. He is still employed by the city.