CPR Condemns Commissioner Bratton for Criticizing Parents, Deflecting Responsibility and Discouraging New Yorkers from Exercising Legal Rights

In response to comments that NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton made yesterday disparaging parents and New Yorkers who record the police, Communities United for Police Reform released the following statement from spokesperson Verónica Bayetti Flores.

“Police Commissioner Bratton’s comments yesterday criticizing parents in communities across our city and those who exercise their legal right to document police activity are disgraceful, unacceptable, and a distraction from his failure to take responsibility as a public official. It’s difficult to not perceive his comments as racially coded, given their similarities to Fox News commentators and disrespectful, racist conservatives. The fact is that Police Commissioner Bratton has taken no substantive action to address the lack of accountability for police brutality and a policing culture that perpetuates discriminatory policing of communities. New Yorkers observe and document police interactions to protect their communities from police abuse and brutality, something that Commissioner Bratton and elected officials have failed to do. The commissioner should focus on beginning to hold officers accountable rather than criticizing New Yorkers. This is just the latest example of the police commissioner showing a lack of respect for our communities, but represents a new low that highlights his refusal to address the fundamental issues required to establish the trust necessary for any genuine police-community relationship rooted in respect.”

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