On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Cuomo Primetime,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown (D) stated that the 57 police officers who resigned from their detail in response to the suspension of two police officers who shoved a man still have his confidence as mayor “Because I think they were essentially threatened by the police union” that the union wouldn’t support them if they stayed on the unit. Brown also said the union’s actions in response to this situation were wrong.
Brown said the resignation “was pushed by the police union. The police union indicated if those officers continued to participate in that unit, they would lose the support of the Police Benevolent Association in Buffalo. The Buffalo police union is on the wrong side of history. They are wrong in this situation. They have been a barrier to further police reform in the city of Buffalo, and that barrier that the police union presents needs to be addressed.”
Host Chris Cuomo later asked, “Do those officers who say they want off the detail, do they still have your trust?”
Brown responded, “They still have my trust. Because I think they were essentially threatened by the police union.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett