Retired Buffalo Police Officer · Advocate · Author

Doing right
should never
cost you everything.

Cariol Horne intervened when another officer used excessive force. She paid a devastating price—and turned that injustice into a law built to protect lives and the officers brave enough to act.

Explore Cariol’s Law Invite Cariol to speak

1988Joined Buffalo Police

2006Intervened to stop force

2020Cariol’s Law enacted

2021Vindicated in court

01 · The story

One decision. Fifteen years of consequences. A law that changed the standard.

She chose the person in danger over the blue wall of silence.

In 2006, Officer Cariol Horne stepped in when she saw a fellow Buffalo officer applying excessive force to a handcuffed Black man. Instead of being protected for intervening, she was punished and ultimately fired just short of a full pension.

She did not disappear. Cariol fought for her name, her livelihood, and a clear duty for officers to stop abuse. In 2020, Buffalo enacted Cariol’s Law. In 2021, a New York court vacated her termination and restored back pay and benefits.

Read the court decision

Before Nolan Wells. Before Karmelo Anthony. Before George Floyd.

I tried to warn of the cover-ups.

— Cariol Horne

The public record · A separate federal civil-rights case

Different incident. Documented conviction.

The officer Cariol confronted was later convicted in federal court.

Gregory Kwiatkowski’s federal conviction did not arise from Cariol’s 2006 intervention. It arose from a separate May 2009 incident involving four teenagers, ages 16 to 18, who were already compliant and under police control.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Kwiatkowski admitted using unlawful, unreasonable, and excessive force by forcibly pushing the teenagers’ heads and upper torsos into a vehicle. He was convicted of deprivation of rights under color of law.

2009

Separate use-of-force incident

The federal case concerned conduct on Treehaven Road—not the 2006 encounter in which Cariol intervened.

2018

Federal sentence

Four months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release that included four months of home detention.

Official source

Deprivation of rights under color of law

The Justice Department’s public record identifies the offense and the admitted excessive force.

Read the Justice Department release Read WKBW coverage Read the 2023 WGRZ follow-up

The full record · Christmas 2022 through October 2025

Intervention, prosecution, and continuing dispute.

The Blizzard of ’22 case.

On Christmas night during Buffalo’s deadly 2022 blizzard, Cariol encountered two women handcuffed and seated on the snow-covered ground while police investigated suspected stolen merchandise.

Cariol said she asked officers to remove the women from the snow and ice. Prosecutors alleged that she refused commands to leave, interfered with the investigation, and struck an officer once in the chest.

Cariol’s position

“When you’re arrested, you don’t get placed in snow and ice.”

Cariol publicly said seeing handcuffed people seated on the frozen ground was triggering and that she approached because she believed they needed to be moved out of the dangerous conditions.

Prosecution’s position

Police said she obstructed their investigation.

The Erie County District Attorney’s account states that Cariol continued arguing, refused commands to leave, pointed in an officer’s face, and struck the officer once in the chest.

April 30, 2025Guilty

Second-degree obstruction of governmental administration after a six-day jury trial and roughly 90 minutes of deliberation.

Other countsNot guilty / dismissed

The jury found Cariol not guilty of second-degree harassment. The judge dismissed the disorderly-conduct count.

October 6, 2025 · Buffalo City CourtConditional discharge

Judge Tiffany R. Perry imposed a one-year conditional discharge and ordered 50 hours of community service.

This 2025 conviction did not erase the 2021 court decision vacating Cariol’s earlier termination, and it did not repeal Buffalo’s Cariol’s Law. It arose from a separate 2022 incident. The facts, purpose of her intervention, and legal outcome should be presented together—not reduced to a headline.

Source record

Reported by WKBW News Staff at 1:00 p.m. on October 6, 2025, citing the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.

Read the sentencing report Read the verdict report Read Cariol’s 2023 explanation

02 · Cariol’s Law

Intervene.
Report.
Protect.

A duty-to-intervene law must do more than sound good. It must require action, protect truth-tellers, and make accountability real.

Duty to intervene

Officers must act when they reasonably believe another officer is using unnecessary or excessive force.

Duty to report

Intervention without honest reporting leaves the same system intact. Documentation and disclosure matter.

Protection from retaliation

Officers who stop misconduct need enforceable protection from punishment, isolation, and career destruction.

Real accountability

A rule without consequences is a suggestion. Public trust requires transparent enforcement.

03 · New York State legislation

Active proposal · Not yet statewide law

Cariol’s Law
A4735B / S1403A

Assembly Bill A4735A was amended. The current Assembly version is A4735B, paired with Senate Bill S1403A, in the 2025–2026 legislative session.

Current committeesAssembly CodesSenate Finance

Assembly sponsor: Monique Chandler-Waterman
Senate sponsor: James Sanders Jr.

Status checked August 22, 2026

The statewide bill would require an on-duty police officer or peace officer who has a realistic opportunity to act safely to intervene when another officer’s force is clearly excessive or beyond what is objectively reasonable.

Mandatory intervention

Creates an affirmative duty to stop excessive force when an officer is present and has a realistic opportunity to intervene safely.

Mandatory reporting

Requires a formal complaint to the department chief. Failure to report could result in discipline, including termination.

Consequences for standing by

Allows criminal, employment, or civil consequences when the bill’s legal requirements are met; death or serious injury cases would be referred to the district attorney.

Protection for interveners

Adds whistleblower protection under Labor Law §740 and includes retroactive protection for qualifying officers terminated within the prior 20 years.

Read Assembly Bill A4735B Read Senate Bill S1403A

Buffalo’s local Cariol’s Law was enacted in 2020. This separate state proposal would extend a duty-to-intervene framework across New York. A bill is not law unless it passes both houses and is signed by the governor, or becomes law through the constitutional process.

“The time is always right to do right.”

— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., quoted by Justice Dennis E. Ward in the 2021 decision

04 · The work continues

Truth is not a moment.
It is a practice.

Cariol brings lived experience, hard-earned strategy, and an unfiltered voice to conversations about policing, retaliation, trauma, public accountability, and standing up when it costs.

◎

Speaking

Keynotes, panels, classrooms, community forums, and leadership conversations.

✦

Advocacy

Duty-to-intervene policy, whistleblower protection, police accountability, and justice reform.

◫

Writing

Books, commentary, testimony, and the lived history behind Cariol’s Law.

05 · Portraits across the journey

Service. Vindication. Leadership.

The same courage,
through every chapter.

From Buffalo police officer to nationally recognized truth-teller and advocate, Cariol’s public work has always centered the duty to protect people.

Cariol Horne in her Buffalo police uniform — Buffalo Police DepartmentA career rooted in servicePhoto credit: Joel Cooper

Cariol Horne seated in a gold ceremonial chair — Advocate and authorStanding in earned authority

Truth-tellerThe work continues

Professional portrait of Cariol Horne with silver braids — LeadershipFocused on truth

Professional portrait of Cariol Horne with a silver hair bun — Strength and dignityUnfiltered. Unbroken.

Cariol Horne making a heart shape with her hands — Love in actionProtection begins with humanity

06 · In the community

Open to all · August 27, 2026

Community Conversation

Building solutions. Creating change. Investing in our youth. A community collaboration between Faces of the Felony Murder Law, Prisoners’ Brain Trust, and Black Lives Matter Grassroots Buffalo Chapter.

5:00 PM–7:15 PMFrank E. Merriweather, Jr. Branch Library
1324 Jefferson Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14208

Community Conversation event flyer for August 27, 2026

Open full flyer

Cariol Horne beside a painted portrait while wearing earrings that read Neal Mack Still Lives — Photo credit: Bree Gilliam

Community work is where truth becomes action.

Cariol Horne spending time with two young women at a nighttime community gathering — Community connectionAcross generations

Racism and Policing in Buffalo New York community conversation forum flyer — Public conversationRacism and Policing in Buffalo, NY

07 · Awards, recognition & media

Courage recognized. Truth amplified.

Honor earned
through action.

Cariol’s intervention, long fight for justice, and continuing work for police accountability have been recognized by national organizations, community leaders, legal institutions, and the press.

2021

Ridenhour Prizes

The Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling

Recipient profile

2022

Sister Karen Klimczak Center for Nonviolence

Klimczak Award Recognition

WGRZ coverage

Honor

National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives

Civil Rights Community Services — Justice by Action Award

Recognition reported by Cariol’s Law

Selected coverage and video

Harvard Law School · 2021

08 · Connect

Bring truth
into the room.

For speaking invitations, interviews, partnerships, and advocacy work, connect with Cariol through her public pages.

Visit Cariol’s Official Website Request Cariol to speak

View the Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize profile

Doing right
should never
cost you everything.

She chose the person in danger over the blue wall of silence.