Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
‘I KNEEL WITH Y’ALL’
The Brooklyn intersection was crammed with thousands of demonstrators, a massive rally to protest police brutality just days after George Floyd died.
Police were mixed in with the crowd.
“We implore you! Please!” a protester says with a bullhorn, talking directly to the officers. “Take a knee in solidarity with us.”
Assistant Chief Jeff Maddrey did, and so did a line of officers with him. The crowd lit up in a chorus of cheers as he spoke into the bullhorn.
“Real talk,” he said to the crowd. “I respect your right to protest. All I’m asking is for you to do it with peace. I kneel with y’all because I don’t agree with what happened. Listen, y’all are my brothers and sisters.”
Maddrey, who is black, is a veteran officer now in charge of the NYPD’s Brooklyn North division, which encompasses a large, diverse swath of the borough. It has seen widespread unrest in the weeks since Floyd’s death; the Brooklyn native blames generations of inequality and tension within law enforcement and the community.
“The reason I took a knee was to start bringing about peace and unity and healing between members of the police department and members of the community,” he said.
Maddrey said he thinks the NYPD should use this as an opportunity to meet with black community leaders and improve relations.
“I think we just need to increase our positive contacts where, you know, young men, young black men, people of, you know, of all communities to feel safe with their police department,” he said.
He stopped short, however, of suggesting specific changes in police training and policy.
“There are things, a lot of things, that the police department can push over to other agencies and should push over to other agencies. And if they take away certain responsibilities that we don’t have to do anymore and they’re going to fund another agency to do that, then me, personally, I’m not against it,” he said.