Officer In Jazmine Headley Arrest Likely Fired, Another Resigns

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — Nearly two months after she had her baby ripped from her arms at a social services office in Brooklyn, Jazmine Headley sat in front of City Council to tell her story.

"It's not just that I was arrested," Headley told council members at a hearing about the social services system Monday. "It was the harsh way I was treated by people who were supposed to help me."

The hearing was the first time Headley has told her story publicly since back in December when she was arrested after sitting on the floor of a Fort Greene social services office when no chairs were available. Security at the agency had called the police on Headley and officers ended up yanking her 1-year-old son from her arms, which was caught on a now-viral video.

Headley, who had gone to the office to fix an issue with her daycare voucher, called the incident a "slap in the face" from the city on Monday.

"Yes, I may need help from time to time, but getting help doesn't mean I'm not a person and it doesn't mean I can be treated in any way," she said. "I was born here, raised here, I pay my taxes, I went to school here, I keep and kept good jobs — I'm part of a community. I've done what I'm supposed to do."

Steven Banks, head of the Human Resources Administration, said at the hearing on Monday that the city suspended both HRA officers involved in the incident without pay after first placing them on modified duty. One of the officers has since resigned and the other is on administrative duties until disciplinary action, possibly termination, is taken, he said.

No action against the NYPD officers involved has been announced since the incident.

HRA has also increased training, including instructing officers not to call police unless there is an immediate safety threat, Banks said.

The hearing comes as the council considers 13 bills to improve the social services system and prevent situations like Headley's from happening again.

"I'm sorry that you and your baby had to experience that trauma," City Council Speaker Corey Johnson told Headly at the hearing. "You deserve so much more than you received and I am deeply, deeply apologetic that you had to have this experience. And I am similarly deeply, deeply grateful for your bravery...for you wanting to ensure this doesn't have to happen to anyone else."

After the arrest, Headley had been charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, criminal trespass and acting in a manner injurious to a child and spent days on Rikers Island before the charges were eventually dropped.

She told council members that "many people have the same problem" every day dealing with city agencies. Headley and her defense team called for certain changes to the system, including providing more staff so that residents do not have to wait upwards of five hours, as she did, to receive services.

"Really it all comes down to treating all people — working people, mothers, poor people, young people — with dignity and respect," she said.

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