Officer Angelo Brown was off-duty and walking home to his apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Jan. 31, 1984 when he slipped on ice and fell. Chirse came upon the fallen officer and stole his gun, prompting a chase that ended in the young cop being fatally shot three times in the neck. (Obtained by Daily News)
The city’s largest police union suggested Sunday that the parole board “illegally factored” the global pandemic into their decision to release a convicted cop killer from prison.
Steven Chirse, 62, was convicted of second-degree murder in 1984 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing 27-year-old Police Officer Angelo Brown of Brooklyn’s 84th Precinct during a robbery.
Chirse, who has been eligible for parole for more than 10 years, appeared before the board on March 18 and his sixth application for release in 12 years was granted. He is scheduled to get out of Fishkill Correctional Facility on May 4, records show.
In a statement, police union officials implied the decision was made to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“The parole board has shown time and again that it cares more about criminals than crime victims. They need to explain whether they are also using the pandemic to justify releasing cop-killers. If they are, they’re breaking the law,” Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president Pat Lynch said in a statement.
The New York State Board of Parole denied the claim.
“This interview and determination was made within the normal process and was not done due to the COVID 19 pandemic,” a spokesperson for the parole board told the Daily News in a statement.
Brown was off-duty and walking home to his apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Jan. 31, 1984 when he slipped on ice and fell. Chirse came upon the fallen officer and stole his gun, prompting a chase that ended in the young cop being fatally shot three times in the neck.
In a letter published with the advocacy group Prison from the Inside Out in December 2019, Chirse wrote about his volatile upbringing and myriad brushes with the criminal justice system from a young age.
“I never would have shot that gun, if I (could) go back,” he wrote of Brown’s killing.
Dave George, associate director of Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, said Chirse deserves an opportunity to re-enter society after spending more than 36 years in the system.
Steven Chirse, 62, was convicted of second-degree murder in 1984 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing 27-year-old Police Officer Angelo Brown of Brooklyn’s 84th Precinct during a robbery.(Obtained by Daily News)
“We as advocates value the lives of all people equally and believe that that value should extend to people in prison, and that people in prison deserve a shot at redemption,” George said.
“In this particular moment, especially as a Catholic on Easter Sunday, I’m reminded of my faith-based values of mercy, compassion and forgiveness, and fundamentally believe they should apply to all New Yorkers — including those behind bars.”