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The mayor and city council are supporting a request by the family of Hasani Best to release audio and video collected in the Attorney General’s investigation into the circumstances surrounding Best’s shooting death by city police after they arrived at his home after a reported domestic dispute on Aug. 21.

Under state law, the Attorney General is required to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody.

“As Mayor and Council of the City of Asbury Park, we strongly support the family of Hasani Best in their request for the Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey to release audio and video collected from the investigation into his death on August 21, 2020,” the officials said in the statement. “We urge Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to honor the Best family’s request and provide this important information to them promptly.”

NJ.com reported today that Best’s family and activists were demanding the release of the information in a letter to the Attorney General.

“The family is completely distraught and does not deserve to endure anymore anxiety over the loss of their loved one Mr. Hasani Best. To date, family members have received little to no information regarding the final moments of Mr. Hasani’s life,” the letter stated, according to the NJ.com report.

On Aug. 24, three days after Best’s death, the Attorney General released the following statement about the matter:

“The Attorney General’s Office is conducting an investigation of a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred Friday night, August 21, 2020 in Asbury Park, N.J.A male civilian was fatally wounded.

The decedent has been identified as Hasani Best, 39, of Asbury Park.

According to the preliminary investigation, multiple officers of the Asbury Park Police Department responded shortly after 9 p.m. on August 21 to a report of a loud domestic dispute inside a two-family residence in the 900 block of 4th Avenue in Asbury Park.  When police arrived, the man and woman involved in the dispute were at the residence. The woman was outside, and the man, later identified as Hasani Best, barricaded himself inside the upstairs apartment.Monmouth County sheriff’s officers arrived to assist the Asbury Park police officers.Officers tried to negotiate with Mr. Best through the door of the apartment in an effort to end the standoff.During the incident, Mr. Best opened the door at various times, revealing that he was armed with a knife.Mr. Best continued to hold the knife despite repeated requests from the police to drop the knife.Officers attempted to use a Taser, but it was not effective.Mr. Best remained armed with the knife, and at approximately 10:10 p.m., an Asbury Park officer shot and fatally wounded him.Officers and EMS rendered medical aid, and EMS transported Mr. Best to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, N.J., where he was pronounced dead at 10:31 p.m. 

The investigation is being conducted by the Attorney General’s Office, pursuant to a law enacted in January 2019, P.L.2019, c.1, which requires that the Attorney General’s Office conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody.”

Earlier this week, the city council announced the formation of an Equity Committee of various community members, police and government officials to review the policies and procedures of the police department. The committee would recommend any changes “to ensure justice and equity for our residents by supporting the development of policies and practices that promote fairness, equity, transparency and accountability,” said Councilwoman Yvonne Clayton.

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