Statement from Dr. Frank Proscia, President of Doctors Council SEIU, on the Eric Garner Decision

For Immediate Release
December 4, 2014

Doctors Council SEIU expresses its solidarity with the family of Eric Garner and is troubled by the findings of the grand jury. Mr. Garner’s death, ruled a homicide by the Medical Examiner, was a tragedy. As a society, we should all be held accountable for the disturbing images captured on camera.  We stand with communities across New York City in the call that Black Lives Matter. There is no place for discrimination in our criminal justice system. Eric Garner’s family deserves justice, fairness and transparency. And all New Yorkers deserve to feel confident in our law enforcement system and in a criminal justice system that treats everyone fairly.

Doctors Council SEIU supports measures to bring police and community closer together. There exists a deep divide and we must use this opportunity to repair what has become broken on too many occasions. As doctors, we believe there is a learning opportunity for law enforcement, and other emergency personnel, encountering individuals with specific healthcare or mental health needs so that people’s lives are not put unnecessarily at risk.

 

About Doctors Council SEIU

Doctors Council SEIU, a professional organization for doctors, is the nation’s oldest and largest union of attending physicians and dentists in the United States, with members in New York City, and in states across the country. Formed in 1973, Doctors Council SEIU is a union for doctors and a voice for patients, and represents attending physicians and dentists at Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) facilities and hospitals, including doctors employed by the affiliates New York University School of Medicine, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Physician Affiliate Group of New York (PAGNY). HHC is the largest public hospital system in the nation. Doctors Council SEIU also represents doctors in the New York City Mayoral agencies including the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) as well as doctors working at Rikers Island, the largest correctional facility in the nation. Affiliated with SEIU, Doctors Council SEIU is a national union representing doctors employed in the public and private sectors.