On Wednesday, Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolman’s Benevolent Association, the New York Police Department’s largest union, said, after meeting with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, that de Blasio–not police department leaders–is the reason his association is upset. Lynch stated that the mayor has no desire to fix the broken relationship between the NYPD and City Hall.
Lynch continued his attack on de Blasio after appearing on NPR’s All Things Considered on Tuesday, according to the Huffington Post:
When [de Blasio] attacks the New York City police department, he’s attacking his own department and his own policies. … If the policy is wrong then change it. We’ll follow our orders and effectively police that policy. But when he criticizes his department, he’s criticizing his own policy.
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City Hall is creating a climate where every interaction with police officers turns into a confrontation.
New York police have recently expressed their anger at de Blasio by turning their backs on him when he appeared at the funerals of Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, who were ambushed and executed on December 20. At Liu’s funeral, one officer called out, “About face!’’ and officers who heard him joined civilians to turn their backs on the mayor. The New York Post reported that one officer said, “I turned my back last week on [de Blasio], and I will continue to turn my back whenever I hear him speak because he disrespected me, Officer Ramos and Officer Liu when he said he warned his son, Dante, to be wary of cops.” Another officer echoed, “I can’t stand even looking at him. He has no friends here.”
De Blasio has refused to apologize for remarks he has made about the NYPD; earlier this week, appearing with Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, de Blasio pontificated, “The positive visions will prevail over the negative visions that dominate the news cycle.”
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