Federal prosecutors' failure to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo for the death of Eric Garner in 2014 has brought renewed attention to police accountability. Prosecutors ruled July 16 that the viral video of the seven-second chokehold and Garner's 11 pleas of "I can't breathe" were insufficient evidence of Pantaleo's willful intent to deny Garner his civil rights. Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, has demanded accountability: "I want those officers fired, the ones who were on the scene that day when they murdered my son." But will she get it?
While Pantaleo may still be dismissed from the New York Police Department in the coming weeks, the bigger question is whether justice and accountability can be found in the legal and administrative decisions of prosecutors and police.