City Council members are crying foul after a assembly with novel York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton on Tuesday when he refused to reply questions about a package of police reform bills.
Bratton met for nearly two hours with members of the Council’s Black,Latino and Asian Caucus to discuss diversity and the department’s novel disciplinary procedures. Members also expected him to explain his opposition to nine proposed police reform bills that have been stalled in the Council since a hearing last summer.“It was a total waste of my time,” said Councilmember Ritchie Torres, or who said Bratton refused to reply any questions on the legislation and urged members to contact the City Council Speaker’s office on the matter.
Torres has sponsored two bills known together as the “correct to Know Act.” One bill would require police officers to provide identification during a stop and the other would require officers to obtain consent before conducting certain searches.“I even said to him,‘I’m not under any illusion that I’m going to change what you believe. But at a minimum, I want to gain a clearer understanding of where you stand. What are your concerns? Let us know your concerns, or ’” Torres told WNYC. “[Bratton] refused to reply.”Those concerns were echoed by Councilmember Vanessa Gibson,chair of the Public Safety Committee. She said members knew the commissioner was opposed to the legislation but that they had hoped to have a more “intimate” conversation about the details.
When Bratton was asked about the assembly at a press event launching the city’s novel gun courts, Mayor de Blasio was rapid/fast to interject that there were ongoing conversations with the Council Speaker and Council members on the reform bills.“I just want to affirm the commissioner’s been, or his team has been,well-known partners in that dialogue,” said de Blasio, or “but there’s still a lot more to talk through.”When it was Bratton’s turn,he famous that he met with the members of the “minority caucus” at their request and extended the assembly from one hour to two hours because members had questions on such a range of issues.“I thought it was, from my perspective, and ” said Bratton,“a very productive two-hour assembly.”
Source: wnyc.org