A frame grab from a surveillance video shows an undercover New York City police officer arresting former tennis pro James Blake in front of a hotel in New York. Blake was waiting to attend the US Open. Photo: EPA
‘He should never have a badge or gun again’ – former tennis star James Blake calls for police officer to be fired
Surveillance video of Blake's arrest outside a Manhattan hotel — and details about previous complaints over the officer’s use of force — have become public
Former tennis star James Blake, whose caught-on-camera takedown by a plainclothes New York City police officer prompted apologies from the mayor and police commissioner, said the officer who wrongly arrested him should be fired.
“I don’t think this person should ever have a badge or a gun again,” Blake, 35, said a day after surveillance video of the arrest outside a Manhattan hotel – and details about previous complaints over the officer’s use of force – became public.
“I don’t think it’s too much to ask,” he said.
This person doesn’t ever belong in the same sentence with the heroes that are doing the right kind of police work and keeping the public safe
James Blake
Blake, who had been ranked as high as No. 4 in the world before retiring after the 2013 US Open, was misidentified by a cooperating witness as being part of a scheme to sell fraudulently purchased merchandise when he was tackled, police have said.
The arresting officer, James Frascatore, who has been with the NYPD for four years, has been named in several civil rights lawsuits alleging excessive force.
He has also been the subject of four civilian complaints – an above-average number for NYPD officers, according to complaint data.
“I think that that kind of police officer tarnishes the badge, which I have the utmost respect for and I believe that the majority of police officers do great work and they’re heroes,” Blake said.
“So this person doesn’t ever belong in the same sentence with the heroes that are doing the right kind of police work and keeping the public safe.”
A message left at a number listed for Frascatore, 38, wasn’t immediately returned. Officials have said he was exonerated of one civilian complaint, a second was unsubstantiated and he was sanctioned for not identifying himself in a third. The status of the fourth complaint was unclear.
On Friday, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch said Blake’s arrest was made “under fluid circumstances where the subject might have fled, and the officer did a professional job of bringing the individual to the ground”.
Frascatore has been placed on desk duty while internal affairs detectives continue their investigation. At issue is not only Blake’s takedown but whether the use-of-force wasn’t properly reported up the chain of command – leaving police brass to learn of it only after Blake spoke to the media.
