In the Media

Experts weigh in on Bill de Blasio, grade mayor on his successes and failures two years into his term

Experts weigh in on Mayor de Blasio's performance 2 years in to his term.
12/26/2015
New York Daily News
Policing is still unfair: Mayor de Blasio pledges to "end the stop-and-frisk era" and ensure fairness in the policing of our neighborhoods have gone unfulfilled. While at first blush the diminished number of reported stops suggests reform, tens of thousands of law-abiding black and Latino New Yorkers remain disproportionately stopped and frisked, with over 80% of those stopped found to have done nothing. That's a lower total, but discriminatory policing persists.

Cop Who Gunned Down Ramarley Graham Gets A Raise

The slain teen’s father wants to know why Officer Richard Haste is being rewarded.
12/21/2015
Huffington Post

NEW YORK -- The New York City police officer who shot and killed unarmed Bronx teen Ramarley Graham has received nearly $25,000 in raises since firing the fatal shot almost four years ago -- all while the NYPD and federal government drag out their investigations of the incident.

One Year After the Eric Garner Non-Indictment, Has Anything Changed?

12/04/2015
Vice

On Thursday exactly a year ago, New York City was practically on fire. The startling decision last December 3 by a grand jury to not indict Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer behind the videotaped death of Eric Garner, blew the lid off a razzled metropolis whose citizens were already familiar with police brutality and discrimination. By then, of course, protests had spread across the country, due to the nearly concurrent decision with Michael Brown's case in Ferguson. In New York, as in Missouri, the anger was palpable—like you could reach out and touch it. And it stayed that way, for a while.

Activists Call Bratton 'Dictatorial' for Opposing Police Reform Bill

11/19/2015
Black Star News

Commissioner Bratton excoriated on opposition to police reform legistaltion in City Council

In response to comments NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton made at a Harvard Club breakfast November 17, Communities United for Police Reform released the following statement from spokesperson Monifa Bandele.

Democracy and legislative oversight may be inconvenient for Mr. Bratton’s dictatorial wants, but as the appointee of an elected official within that system of government he must respect them.

Bratton knocks Council, calls policing bills ‘destructive’ and ‘self-serving’

11/18/2015
Capital New York

New York Police Department commissioner Bill Bratton likes the mayor but not the City Council — whose legislative efforts to tweak policing practices he derided Tuesday as “obstructive,” “destructive” and “unnecessary, intrusive and self-serving."

Speaking at a breakfast in Midtown hosted by the Citizens Budget Commission, Bratton blasted the lawmakers collectively as “a novice City Council."

Pitched Battle Over NYPD

Liberal members of City Council push for vote on policing bills that Commissioner Bratton opposes; mayor in a tough spot
11/15/2015
Wall Street Journal
Three pending pieces of City Council legislation could bring to a head a looming battle in City Hall: whether policy changes quietly negotiated with New York Police Commissioner William Bratton, and not lawmaking, are a better way to transform the NYPD. One bill, proposed following the death last year of Eric Garner, would make the use of chokeholds a crime. Another would compel officers to identify themselves to those they stop by name, rank and command. A third would require them to ask permission before conducting some searches.

Video Shows NYPD Officer Tackling, Choking, and Pepper-spraying a Skateboarder

10/28/2015
Vice News

A New York Police Department officer tackled a skateboarder in Manhattan's Columbus Circle on Sunday, placing him in what appears to be a chokehold — a maneuver banned by the NYPD patrol guide — and then pepper-sprayed him in the face. The NYPD told VICE News that the incident is now under internal review. 

The skateboarder, Queens College student Yibin Mu, posted a video of the incident on Youtube, and provided his own account of the encounter. 

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