In the Media

City Council Tests de Blasio

Proposed Laws Place Mayor Awkwardly Between the Police and His Liberal Allies
01/15/2015
Wall Street Journal

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s efforts to end a bitter rift with parts of the police force could be complicated by his liberal allies on the City Council, whose proposed legislation to revise certain law-enforcement tactics are vehemently opposed by police unions.

One bill would require police officers to gain consent before conducting a street search without probable cause or a warrant.

NYPD commissioner 'routinely rejected' sanctions against chokehold officers

Police watchdog says Ray Kelly, who stepped down in 2013, offered no explanation for not disciplining officers who used banned technique
01/12/2015
Guardian
New York City’s longest-serving police commissioner, Ray Kelly, “routinely rejected” recommendations for disciplinary action against police officers who carried out banned chokeholds on civilians, and offered no explanation for dismissing the findings of the city’s independent police watchdog, a stinging report has found.

The NYPD Slowdown Raises Questions About Bill De Blasio's Big Police Reform Promises

01/09/2015
Business Insider

Tensions between the New York Police Department and Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) have made national news in recent weeks. While some of the strife has stemmed from de Blasio's high profile efforts to reform the department, there is one beef with the mayor's policies that is shared by the police and their critics. 

After Cop Murders, Police Reform Movement Ponders Next Steps

The assassination of two police officers brought a new wave of backlash for the movement to reform how the NYPD interacts with communities of color.
01/05/2015
New York Observer

The same New York City Council that blocked Broadway to protest the Eric Garner decision and pretended to die before a legislative meeting now assembled en masse to emphasize just how much they loved the police.

The NYPD Is Taking a Holiday from Arresting People

01/02/2015
Vice
December saw New York City on edge to an extent it probably hasn't been since 9/11. Ignited by the decision to not indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, the city has been swallowed protest, counter-protest, death, and despair, culminating in what has become a political showdown between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD, with the rest of us in the middle unsure of what to do.

NYPD Strategy: Be Strict on Small Crimes to Deter Major Ones; Critics Say Policy Targets Blacks

Critics say the “broken windows” approach that New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton is defending is nothing but a regurgitation of the stop-and-frisk policy that targeted African-American and Hispanic men.
12/31/2014
The Root

New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton is defending his department’s use of the “broken windows” strategy, which, as Al-Jazeera reports, is “the practice of cracking down on minor offenses” because if they go unchecked, the argument goes, “they create visible signs of public disorder that encourage more serious crimes.”

New York police engage in ‘virtual work stoppage’ amid rising tension

Officers appear to slow down enforcement of low-level offenses
12/31/2014
Al Jazeera America

Arrests and summonses in New York City have dropped off precipitously, in what appears to be a deliberate work slowdown by the local police force amid heightened tension between New York Police Department officers and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

From Dec. 22 to Dec. 27, police made 66 percent fewer arrests than they had during the same period last year. Criminal court summonses were down 94 percent, as were summonses for traffic violations.

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