Bill Bratton: Relationship Between City Officials, Police Union Better
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton says there's "much less tension" between the police union and city officials now than there was in the aftermath of the chokehold death of a Staten Island man last year.
Bratton spoke Sunday on the CBS' "Face the Nation."
New Yorkers protested the death last July of Eric Garner after police placed him in a chokehold on a Staten Island street. The incident was a flashpoint triggering discord between New York City officials and the police union.
Bratton said there's "much less tension" now.
"I think we've recovered from that," Bratton said. "The union contracts, with the exception of one union, have now been resolved. I think that public sentiment really came behind the mayor as the event went forward, and I think the raw emotions -- two police officers murdered -- have healed somewhat in the city."
In December, two officers were gunned down in their squad car by a man who had made references online to the deaths of Garner and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
When asked what advice he might have for other police departments dealing with a crisis, John Miller, the NYPD's deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, who also appeared on "Face the Nation," answered: "Create your relationships under nonstressful circumstances. These crises, each one represents an opportunity to build a dialogue with the key community leaders. But the problem is if you start to try and develop those relationships after some terrible event has happened and you're behind the 8-ball, that's a problem."
Bratton said that lost in the headlines is that "there's been a dramatic improvement in the crime situation in America, and with that improvement, with crime down, we're also seeing a significant fall-off on police actions that result in arrests."
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The police commissioner said there were nearly 2.5 million fewer arrests nationally last year, "reflecting that police of necessity don't have to be quite as active in many of the communities in the country."
Bratton's comments come as protests intensify over another police-custody death in Baltimore.
Freddy Gray suffered a spinal injury in police custody and later died. Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said at least five officers were injured and 12 people were arrested during a protest Saturday.
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