NEW YORK, United States (CMC) – A United States congressman is demanding the dismissal of a white New York Police Department (NYPD) officer who allegedly shot and killed a Jamaican youth in his home four years ago.

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, a member of the US Congressional Black Caucus leadership and US House of Representative’s Judiciary Committee wants the NYPD to dismiss officer Richard Haste in connection with the death of Ramarley Graham.

Haste had shot Graham in the bathroom of his Bronx home.

Jeffries is also demanding that the NYPD dismiss another officer, Daniel Pantaleo, who has been linked to the death of African American Eric Garner in 2014.

Standing on the steps of City Hall in Lower Manhattan with the mothers of the two deceased, Jeffries said “the administration’s coddling of police officers like Daniel Pantaleo and Richard Haste, both of whom took the life of innocent, unarmed African-American men, is unacceptable and unconscionable”.

The Congressman said Haste chased18-year-old Graham, the son of Jamaican immigrants, into his home and shot him to death “a decision a prosecutor called “neither reasonable or justifiable”.

Jeffries said that Pantaleo, “an officer with a history of disciplinary issues, asphyxiated Mr Garner on a side walk in Staten Island in 2014, irrespective of Mr Garner declaring 11separate times that he could not breathe.

Jeffries said both officers have retained their taxpayer-funded jobs and “enjoyed significant increases in pay since the horrific deaths of both victims”.

“The majority of New York City police officers are hardworking public servants who are in the community to protect and serve. However, those police officers who cross the line and take the life of innocent civilians without justification must be held accountable, not rewarded with overtime and bonus pay.”

Last year, Jeffries said officer Haste received nearly US$25,000 in raises, stating that Haste earned a salary of about US$76,000 in the 2015 fiscal year and received over US$2,000 in overtime pay and $10,147 in “other pay”.

In fiscal year 2012, Haste earned a salary of over US$53,000, plus nearly US$9,000 in overtime and close to US$4,800 in other pay, Jeffries said.

“We demand action, and the administration can begin by removing officers like Daniel Pantaleo and Richard Haste from the force,” he added.

Graham’s family has been waging a public battle, pressing for Haste to be held to account.

Haste had been indicted in a New York State court for the shooting, but the manslaughter charges were thrown out because of a prosecutorial error. A second grand jury then declined to indict him.