Officer Frascatore’s brutal takedown of former tennis star Blake
It’s been more than 2 years since NYPD Officer James Frascatore attacked me in front of a midtown Manhattan hotel – slamming me to the ground and wrongly handcuffing me in broad daylight without ever even identifying himself – yet he is still an active NYPD officer. He was the subject of 5 misconduct complaints by civilians in the span of 7 months before he attacked me, and it seems he was never disciplined for any of them.
Had there not been a video of this attack, the NYPD and Officer Frascatore would have continued with the false account they initially put forward about the incident and the public would likely have not known about this case or even the identity of the officer, as is sadly true for so many other incidents of police abuse. The video makes clear that Officer Frascatore intended and carried out the use of excessive force, yet still he has not been held accountable and even now there is the attempt to sweep it under the rug with his potentially receiving a slap on the wrist that the NYPD has stated it intends to conceal from the public.
Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner O’Neill must fire Officer Frascatore and make the discipline decision public – not just for me, but to send a clear message that excessive force by officers will not be tolerated. Anything less is continuing the broken ‘politics as usual’ approach that fails to protect communities of color harmed by police abuses and brutality.
James Blake is a retired professional tennis player.
