New York Attorney General Letitia James is facing scrutiny after opening up a legally required investigation into the police shooting of a woman who fatally stabbed Erin Piacenti, Bank of America executive and a new mother in her first week back to work from maternity leave, in Times Square.
James’ office announced on Wednesday that it will be investigating Pamela Cisneros’ death, who was wielding two large knives in each hand when officers confronted her following the fatal stabbing. She was ordered to drop the weapons but did not comply and was shot when she moved toward the officers.
Under state law, the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation is mandated to investigate all deaths that were caused by police officers. However, Republican attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy is pushing the Attorney General’s Office to take more concrete steps to ensure that another tragic killing or attack caused by a mentally unstable person doesn’t happen again. She argued that an investigation into police conduct fails to address the real problem…