New York City mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled plans on Thursday to retrain city police officers to emphasise tactics such as de-escalation and improving communication between officers and citizens.
The announcement comes a day after a grand jury decided to not indict police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put 43-year-old Eric Garner in a chokehold, which resulted in his death. The decision prompted a wave of peaceful protests across the city.
“These changes are happening because the people demanded it,” De Blasio said in a press conference at the NYPD police academy.
Critics of the NYPD’s tactics cited Garner’s death as yet another example of how police treat people in minority communities differently. “Everyone needs to know they will be treated the same regardless of who they are, and that’s what we aspire to,” De Blasio said.
He said a focus of the new training program will be changing how officers speak with city residents, improving how they listen to residents, slowing down interactions “that escalate too quickly,” employing de-escalation and using less force when possible.
“I think you’re going to see a very different reality after this training has been achieved,” De Blasio said. “This will protect our officers, it will protect live citizens. I have no doubt some tragedy will be avoided because of this training.”
NYPD officials explained that the training is cognitive, along with tactical. The second day of the program, for instance, includes teaching officers techniques for dealing with their ego and adrenaline. A group of officers began the retraining efforts on Thursday.
NYPD police commissioner Bill Bratton said that the program will last only three days because of the budget and the type of issues they are looking to address in the immediate future. “I will also point out that this is not a one shot affair,” said Bratton, who added that the program will evolve over several years as the training needs change.
Earlier on Thursday, Bratton said in an interview with radio station AM 970 that he is “totally supportive” of body cameras for police officers. The roll-out of a pilot camera program is set for Friday in three command areas, including the Staten Island precinct where Garner died. “I think they eliminate a lot of the ‘he said, she said’ issues,” said Bratton.
Barack Obama on Thursday announced that he and De Blasio will work together to work on improve relations between police and minority communities in the US. The president said he spoke with the mayor earlier that day and commended the city for its handling of the Garner protests.
“As the president of the United States and as the mayor of its largest city, the two pledged to work together to help strengthen the trust and bond between law enforcement and the local communities that they serve,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.
US attorney general Eric Holder announced on Wednesday that the federal government will conduct a civil rights investigation into the circumstances surrounding Garner’s death.
