The New York City police commissioner, William J. Bratton, on Tuesday delivered a broad commentary on the country’s troubled history of race relations and the role of the police in fostering old divisions that still sow distrust in minority communities.
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton acknowledged on Tuesday that police were to blame for "many of the worst parts of black history" in the United States. Yet advocates for police reform say the comments are merely lip service from an official who continues to reinforce the city's racial tensions.
A police officer sang the national anthem, and a video featured the mayor alongside his police commissioner.
But Mayor Bill de Blasio's State of the City speech, delivered at Baruch College on Tuesday, included only brief references to the policing issues that occasionally dominated his first year in office.
Michael Skolnik, political director to Russell Simmons and president of GlobalGrind.com, and Alyssa Aguilera, political director of Vocal-NY, part of the Communities United for Police Reform coalition,
Nothing in New York politics is easy, and Gov. Cuomo’s proposals to reform the criminal justice system — which attempt to respond to the controversy over what many think is the impunity given to the police officers who killed Eric Garner and Michael Brown — are no exception.
The building has to be one of the most unassuming in downtown Manhattan.
The hallways are quiet and bare, lined by mostly empty offices where an encyclopedia-sized police patrol guide on the bookshelves instantly stands out. This is clearly a space in transition, but as a newcomer, you'd be unsure if the people were either moving out or settling in—a hollow quality rare in New York City's bureaucracy. In fact, the only reason I knew I was on the right floor was because of a classroom-ready whiteboard in the lobby, with a few words scribbled: