The Office of Special Investigation (OSI) within the New York Attorney General’s office has released its findings regarding the death of Alan Weber, who died after an encounter with Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) officers in East Northport on October 10, 2023.
According to the report, officers responded to a residence following 911 calls about a man yelling and breaking items inside his home. Upon arrival, officers saw Mr. Weber at a window; he did not comply with their requests to open the door. Officers entered and found Mr. Weber in the basement holding two fencing swords. Despite repeated commands to drop the weapons, Mr. Weber advanced toward the officers. One officer used a taser, which was ineffective, and another officer then fired his service weapon, striking Mr. Weber. He was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Two fencing swords were recovered at the scene.
The investigation reviewed evidence including body-worn camera footage and interviews with involved officers. The OSI report states: “After a thorough investigation, which included review of 911 calls and footage from body-worn cameras, interviews with involved officers, and comprehensive legal analysis, OSI concluded that a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officer’s actions were justified under New York law.”
The report explains that under state law, police may use deadly force if they reasonably believe it is necessary for self-defense against deadly physical force: “Under New York’s justification law, a police officer may use deadly physical force when the officer reasonably believes it to be necessary to defend against the use of deadly physical force by another.” The OSI found that given Mr. Weber’s actions and possession of weapons during the incident, there was insufficient basis for criminal charges against responding officers: “In this case, when the officers encountered Mr. Weber, he was armed with two fencing swords and failed to comply with repeated instructions to drop the swords. Mr. Weber instead came at the officers with the two swords. Under these circumstances, given the law and the evidence, a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officer’s use of deadly physical force against Mr. Weber was justified, and therefore OSI determined that criminal charges would not be pursued in this matter.”
As part of its review process, OSI examined SCPD’s Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) program and recommended that all department members complete CIT instruction for better handling mental health crises involving civilians. The report also suggests SCPD officers should first assess whether someone in crisis poses an immediate danger before engaging specialized units or mobile crisis response teams: “The OSI also recommends that responding SCPD officers should first determine whether the person in crisis is an immediate danger to themselves or others and, if not, SCPD officers should be required to call Emergency Services Unit (ESU) officers – officers specially trained to handle and control behavioral health crises – or phone the Diagnostic, Assessment, and Stabilization Hub (DASH) mobile crisis response team.” However, in this particular case involving Alan Weber’s behavior and armed status during police response,”the OSI acknowledges it would not have been safe for a civilian mobile crisis response team to engage with Mr. Weber.”
