Burrs: New York Fights its Police Force

He thought he felt the butt of a pistol in the pocket of a suspect he was trying to arrest. So, he shot twice. In the chest. According to witnesses, the white police officer then distanced himself from the lifeless body, crying “fuck, fuck!” In the pocket of Rumain Brisbon, a 34-year-old African American, was not actually a gun … but a bottle of pills.

Just after the drama, which took place Tuesday night in Phoenix, Arizona, the police department gave its own contested version of the facts: alerted on a possible drug deal, the police officer tried to arrest Rumain Brisbon, but he fled. Then, a fight broke out between the two men, during which the officer opened fire. In a press release, the police department also states that a semi-automatic weapon and some cannabis were found next to the vehicle of the victim — a father of four.

Challenge. In the present context, this new drama risks to stir anger from protesters who, in New York and Ferguson, loudly denounce the abusive methods of the forces of order and the impunity with which they would benefit. In New York, the protest movement started after the decision, on Wednesday, of a grand jury to not indict the police officer responsible for Eric Garner’s death. These events pose a challenge to Mayor Bill de Blasio. Elected last year on the promise to improve the relationship between the city police (the famous NYPD) and the communities — especially black and Latino — the Democratic mayor announced on Thursday the launch of an important training program for police officers. “The way we go about policing has to change,” hammered de Blasio, highlighting the need for “using less force whenever possible.”

Out of the 34,500 NYPD officers in uniform, 22,000 will participate in this training program, explained the city’s commissioner, William Bratton. The three-day program will noticeably bring up tactics permitted to disarm a tense situation in public. According to the city’s officials, cited by The New York Times, the goal is to teach police officers to better “control ego and adrenaline,” as well as to encourage these officers to “suppress profanity.”

Besides this training program, Michael Bloomberg’s successor emphasizes the changes made since taking office on Jan. 1. The controls related to the “stop and frisk,” a practice criticized for targeting mostly young blacks and Latinos, have been divided by 14. The city put an end to arrests for possession of less than 25 grams of cannabis. And Friday, a pilot program aiming to equip police officers with cameras began. However, these pledges are far from producing the desired effect. The relationship between New Yorkers and their police force remains execrable.

Cowboys. We should say that over these last months several officers were immortalized in videos abusing citizens — almost always black. Physically beaten suspects, violently slammed to the ground, insulted … the filmed proof of those cowboy-like behaviors is sabotaging the efforts of the mayor, torn between his electorate and the powerful U.S. police force.

Mayor de Blasio is, in effect, facing hostility from a portion of the New York police that accuses him of laxity. “If the mayor wants to change policies and wants us to stand down against crime then say that,” bitterly stated the chairman of the city’s main police union.