I watched the press conference yesterday given by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton. You could say there was much positive about what both men said, but when you break it down to basics, both were calling for a moratorium on protests until after the two slain officers were laid to rest. Bratton wanted his cops and their Patrolmen's Benevolent Association to hold off on criticism of the mayor, and de Blasio called for anti-police protesters to hold off until after the funerals. Thanks a lot!
Since I was on the treadmill, I had difficulty hearing the questions, but the responses pretty much confirmed what the questions were about. De Blasio conceded that his previous remarks were a "mistake" and "were wrong". He showed the most emotion, however, (anger) when one reporter asked him how he would feel if his son came home mouthing the same statements that many of the protesters had been chanting (about wanting cops dead). De Blasio angrily defended the majority of the anti-police protesters who had not called for death to cops or assaulted police.
For his part, Bratton defended de Blasio and downplayed the fact that "some" cops disliked the mayor. Is either man prepared to speak out against the outrageous incitement by Al Sharpton?
I still hold a very negative opinion of de Blasio, and I'm not sure what I think about Bratton at this point. Bratton has done many great things during his career including his first stint as police commissioner in New York. I was less impressed with his performance as LAPD chief under Mayor Tony Villaraigosa, and I think he is compromised having to work under de Blasio.
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You have held and would always hold a negative opinion of De Blasio no matter what happened on his watch.
The fact is, police armed with guns who feel a sense of impunity can be very dangerous to law abiding citizens. The Dorismund shooting was a particularly blatant example -- back in Rudy Guliani's day, but still a glaring and unresolved matter of poor judgement and poor policy, with a heavy dose of hubris.
It is ALSO true that police are at risk of being shot by criminal elements, psychopaths, and people who are so hyped up about police=bad that they think its a heroic thing to do.
The way police close ranks around any officer who is publicly criticized for the death of a civilian tends to discredit them. They have to be willing to accept that officers make mistakes, some officers demonstrate they are unsuited for police work, or at least for armed police work, and some officers are very good at what they do.
As long as the police act like its "us against them" and "them" is every civilian who doesn't just love the police, we're going to have a problem getting toned-down, nuanced, rational criticism dominating the protests.
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