RIDLEY FAMILEY SEEKS PROBE IN SONS SHOOTING

Detective Chritopher Ridley

MOUNT VERNON - The parents of slain Mount Vernon Police Officer Christopher Ridley and a nationally known cleric are demanding federal and state investigations into the shooting by four Westchester County cops after a county grand jury declined to indict them.

"They have essentially said that Christopher died, and it was nobody's fault. We will not accept that," the Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson said yesterday at Grace Baptist Church, as he called on state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the U.S. Attorney's Office to review the case. "We will not sit by and allow this to be the last word on this matter."

They also called for a street protest Wednesday at the site where Ridley was gunned down outside 85 Court St. and urged people to gather there at 4:55 p.m., the time of the shooting.
"Calm and waiting is over. It is now time for the community to act," Richardson said. "What happened in White Plains was systemic execution. Unless we transform the system, we will be back here again."

A spokesman for Cuomo said his office was reviewing the request for a state probe.
The pastor was joined at the news conference by Ridley's mother, Felita Rucker-Bouche, and father, Stanley Ridley, who had urged his son to become a police officer.

"This is very hard because I gave my son to this system so that he could make it better," Stanley Ridley said, growing tearful. "And you all - the media, Westchester County - has treated him like a common thug; treated him like he just didn't exist, like he wasn't a police officer.

"This should never happen again, and I'm going to fight for my son and the right for him to be the hero that he died for," the father said.

A grand jury cleared Detective Robin Martin and Officers Christian Gutierrez, Jose Calero and Frank Oliveri of any wrongdoing. But Richardson and Damon K. Jones, executive director of the National Black Police Association's Westchester chapter, said that was a rush to judgment by the District Attorney's Office.

"We feel betrayed and outraged and believe the report is a collaboration of cover-ups," Richardson said of the grand jury's non-action. "It is not thorough. We question the pursuit and the posturing of the District Attorney's Office."

The Rev. W. Darin Moore, president of the United Black Clergy, an organization made up of about 50 religious leaders countywide, agreed.

"The entire process demands closer scrutiny and transparency," he said. "We believe that too few details have been made public, and those facts that have, raise troubling questions as to whether there was an excessive use of force by the four police officers."

Ridley's mother expressed anger with the grand jury's decision.

"I don't like what Westchester did. I think they need to be investigated," Rucker-Bouche said of the shooting and subsequent investigation. "It's been 47 days. I waited patiently for them to execute my son and give him no remorse. I want an investigation done and I want justification."
In a statement released yesterday, District Attorney Janet DiFiore said she had "complete faith and confidence" in the grand jury process. She said 62 witnesses - including 45 civilians - testified about the shooting death on Court Street.

She said 16 of the civilian witnesses were in or about the plaza in front of 85 Court St., some only a few feet away when the shooting happened. Of the witnesses, 17 others were inside the office building watching from their windows as the events unfolded below them. Twelve other civilian witnesses were in the general area on the street, DiFiore said in the statement.

"The twenty-three grand jurors, over eight sessions spanning two months, investigated and considered photographs, all videos which captured portions of the events from cameras positioned in a nearby office building, charts, diagrams and documentary evidence," the statement said. "The grand jury found that, based upon all of the evidence presented, there was no reasonable cause to believe a criminal offense was committed by any of the Westchester County Department of Public Safety Police Officers involved in this tragic incident."

Because grand jury proceedings are confidential, DiFiore would not say what, if any, criminal charges her prosecutors recommended to the panel.

Calvin Scholar, the husband of Ridley's cousin and a former Westchester prosecutor who served as chief of the bias crime unit before resigning in early January, said the familey considered it a "slap in the face" Wednesday at a private meeting when prosecutors met with them and spoke of how distraught the county officers were.

He accused investigators of "ignoring a version that indicates that there should be an indictment." He said several witnesses were turned over to the prosecutor's office by the family, and they were disregarded. One was even put in jail, he alleged, though he did not provide a name.

"There are witnesses that have come forward, and the White Plains Police Department has been very heavy-handed in treating the witnesses that have indicated a version that supports criminal charges," he said. "There have been incidents where they have not been spoken to properly. There have been situations where they have been ignored. And in one case, upon information and belief, we believe that somebody was arrested after they agreed to cooperate with the investigation."

Scholar, who is serving as a lawyer for the family, would not say whether a lawsuit would be filed against Westchester County.

His former colleagues at the D.A.'s office and Daniel Jackson, deputy commissioner of White Plains police, declined to respond to Scholar's comments.

Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young was at the church, but was not invited into the news conference to speak. He declined to comment yesterday about the case saying he has not read the report.

Young's chief of staff, Yolanda Robinson, said later that there was a "misunderstanding" between the family and the mayor. Robinson said Young spoke with Ridley's mother later in the day.
Young called a news conference with Ridley's mother, and it was abruptly canceled just before it was to start.

Reached for comment about the investigation and the family's calls for outside intervention, Mount Vernon Police Commissioner David Chong said, "I was not part of the grand jury investigation, and I do not know the facts that were presented to the grand jury, so I can not make a comment."

Sgt. Kevin Mandell, president of the Mount Vernon Police Benevolent Association, said he and his members also have questions about the investigation. He said he would like to view the videotape and grand jury findings before deciding if outside agencies are warranted

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