More than two weeks after Hamail Waddell’s violent arrest by Binghamton Police was caught on camera, Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham said an investigation into the incident remains ongoing and without a clear timeline of concluding.
Kraham said police are still reviewing footage from the arrest, including video from body cameras of officers in the area. He added that police believe more people have video from the arrest that hasn’t been shared with investigators.
"What we're waiting on is hopefully individuals who do have video of the incident, of the arrest, do come forward and provide that so we can get a complete picture of what happened. That is important,” Kraham said speaking with WSKG. “We know that there are individuals that have video that have not provided it yet, but I don't want to see anything drag out. But like I said, it's very time-intensive in terms of review of body camera footage."
Kraham declined to provide a timeline of when the investigation may wrap up.
"I don't want to ballpark it,” Kraham said. “But I will just say that full attention is being given to it and I have instructed police to make any resources available to get it to a conclusion quickly."
The mayor, now in his second year in office, said he would likely commit to publicly releasing footage reviewed as part of the investigation.
"I would say that that's likely at this point, yes,” Kraham said.
The officer seen kneeling on Waddell’s neck in the video, Brad Kacynski, remains on administrative duties while the investigation is pending. Activists and others critical of the city’s response argue that he should be fired and charged.
Kraham said the decision to place Kacynski on desk duty in lieu of more severe penalties is statutorily dictated in the city’s contract with the police department’s union.
"That is guided by the police union contract in terms of how that operates and what the process is,” Kraham said.
Waddell pleaded not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest in Binghamton City Court Wednesday.
A coalition of activist organizations addressed Binghamton City Council at length last week and plans to do the same at a Binghamton City School Board meeting next week.
