In lockstep
Bratt: Total agreement with Blaz vs. crime
THE CITY’S TOP cop said Friday that he and Mayor de Blasio were “joined at the hip” on law enforcement issues.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton made the remarks while attending the American Justice Summit at John Jay College.
The forum featured a diverse group of speakers, including former Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney for New York Preet Bharara, as well as Usher and Venida Browder, whose son killed himself after spending three years wrongfully incarcerated at Rikers Island.
Bratton said the NYPD has in the last few years “engaged in more oversight than in any other time in its history.”
He also said that he and de Blasio are in accord on policing policies.
“We are joined at the hip. . . On law enforcement, we are very much centrists. He understands the importance of finding balance,” said Bratton.
“If you give the community too much enforcement, you’re going to kill them,” he acknowledged.
At the same time, he noted, the NYPD is focused on putting more cops into specific areas to prevent crimes — while still trying to be sensitive to local communities.
“My police officers will not lose ... the ability to use criminal law. But the first interaction would be a civil interaction,” Bratton stated.
He also stressed that cops are getting better training and using more advanced technology, like smartphones, to better monitor their patrol areas.
“We have the lowest use of force, particularly deadly force, the use of firearms . . . of any large scale police force in America,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the forum heard from Browder, who spoke about the experience of her son Kalief, who was arrested in 2010 at age 16 and kept for three years at Rikers without ever going to trial.
When he came home, she said, all he did was pace.
“He just was a different person. He was more sad ... he used to walk the four corners every day,” she said.
“I said, ‘Kalief, what’s the matter?’ And he said ‘Ma, that’s all I was allowed to do was walk the four corners of the room.’ ”
Kalief was released in 2013 and killed himself last June — and his mother said she found his body.
While her son’s death has gotten attention from elected officials from the White House to City Hall, Browder says those most responsible are still silent.
“The city won't acknowledge (his death). Rikers, NYPD, the judicial system, all three of them had a part,” she said.
Usher took the stage to give a brief talk on the importance of art in social movements.
He urged the crowd to stay committed to important causes. “We get upset, we’re mad about something, and then we want to be active, wear our hoodies, we wear our shirts, we put our hands up and then we go back to our lives. We've got to stop that,” he said.
The city won't acknowledge [his death]. Rikers, NYPD, the judicial system, all three of them had a part.
VENIDA BROWDER