A new report issued by the New York City Police Department's inspector general found that several NYPD officers received a slap on the wrist for using illegal chokeholds in recent years.

In the first report issued by the inspector general office, it was found that NYPD officers used a chokehold in 10 cases from 2009 to 2014, despite the fact that the practice has been banned for over two decades, NPR affiliate WNYC

The report found that the Civilian Complaint Review Board recommended that then-Commissioner Ray Kelly take disciplinary action against the accused officers in six of those cases. However, Kelly refused to do so each time.

"We really don't know why the police commissioner came out with a different result, a lesser result than the CCRB recommended," NYPD Inspector General Philip Eure told WNYC. "That sort of thing undermines confidence."

The complaint board recommended Kelly enforce a harsh penalty in those six cases, including suspension or termination. Instead, Kelly overruled them and stated that officers should review the rules.

The 45-page report, which looks at use of chokeholds and the department's responses, also found that the officers resorted to using the banned move fairly quickly in verbal altercations.

The fact that "several of the subject officers" in the 10 cases reviewed used chokeholds "as a first act of physical force and in response to mere verbal confrontation is particularly alarming," the report states, according to The New York Times.

The report comes months after a New York City grand jury failed to indict Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. The incident took place on July 17 when Garner, a 43-year-old black man, had a verbal confrontation with two plainclothes NYPD officers who accused him of selling untaxed cigarettes.

A video recording appears to show Officer Pantaleo putting Garner in a chokehold while he was being arrested. The white cop also slammed Garner's face into the ground, ignoring the victim's repeated cries of "I can't breathe." Authorities say that the married father of six died from a heart attack about an hour after his arrest.

Pantaleo was cleared on Dec. 3 on all charges by a special 23-member grand jury.