16 The Courier sun • june 16, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Jamaica NYPD agent and youth mentor Quintin ‘Q’ Stevens dies at age 33 Photo courtesy of Nadia Chait From left to right: Bishop Lester Williams, Jackie Lemon-Denton, Phil Craig, Councilman Rory Lacman, Yvonne Reddick, Adrienne Adams and June Bunch address members of the community over the issue of the NYPD’s use of chokeholds. Leaders in Jamaica say NYPD procedures allow officers to apply chokeholds By Charlie Perry cperry@qns.com/@QueensCourier The NYPD is relaxing a ban preventing cops from using chokeholds on suspects, something that alarms many civic leaders in south Queens. Councilman Rory Lancman held a press conference on June 14 alongside Bishops Lester Williams and Leroy Newman, Justice Minister Phil Crag, state Senate candidate Adrienne Adams, Yvonne Reddick and former Councilman Archie Spigner to denounce Patrol Guide 221- 01. The document added 11 factors that will examine when it is appropriate for offices to engage an offender with reasonable force. “Rather than standing with the people of New York and the majority of the City Council who have called for strengthening the ban on this deadly maneuver, Mayor de Blasio is actually loosening restrictions on chokeholds, making it more, not less, likely that they will be used,” Lancman said in a press release issued on June 14. “This secret rule, which the NYPD didn’t release to the public, practically eviscerates the chokehold.” After Eric Garner’s death in 2014, Lancman introduced Intro. 540, co-sponsored by 27 other members of City Council, making the use of chokeholds a misdemeanor. De Blasio vowed to veto the bill. Patrol Guide 221-01 includes a list of considerations for when the NYPD is determining discipline for all uses of force, including everything from firing a gun to physical restraints. “There is no change in the longstanding department policy that officers are prohibited from using chokeholds,” Monica Kine, deputy press secretary for Mayor de Blasio, wrote in an email to The Courier. The NYPD holds steadfast in its position on chokeholds: “The new use of force policy continues to ban the use of chokeholds. Any other characterization is simply wrong,” an NYPD press representative told The Courier in an email. By Charlie Perry cperry@qns.com/@QueensCourier A funeral and memorial service was held for Quintin “Q” Stevens, who died earlier this week at age 33, on June 14 in Jamaica. Stevens was the son of retired Detective Alvin Stevens and wife Donna. Alvin Stevens currently serves as the special assistant to Senator Leroy Comrie (D). “My heartfelt condolences go out to Al, Donna and the entire Stevens family on the loss of their beloved son and family member Quintin “Q” Stevens,” said Comrie in an email to The Courier. Before his death, Stevens served as a School Safety Agent with the NYPD. He was an active member of Brooks Memorial United Methodist Church and often helped with their special events as a cook. Stevens was well known in the Jamaica community as a youth mentor. A funeral service for Stevens was held at Brooks Memorial United Church on 143-22 109th Ave. The Brooks Memorial United Methodist Church also hosted a viewing and wake service at 4 p.m. on June 14. The family requests that the community make donations to the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association.
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