CLEAN UP GRAFFITI AND PICK UP
TRASH AS WELL.
THEY DON’T WORK FOR ANY
AGENCIES, JUST PEOPLE THAT HAVE
BEEN MOVED BY WHAT THEY HAVE
SEEN.
I WANT TO BRING IN BILL BRETT,
NBC NEWS SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
ANALYST, COUNTER-TERRORISM
ANALYST.
HE’S LED POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN
NEW YORK CITY AND LOS ANGELES
AND BOSTON AS WELL.
COMMISSIONER, FIRST OF ALL,
LET’S START WITH NEWS.
I GUESS IN THE LAST 30 MINUTES
OR SO, THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK
CITY HAS ANNOUNCED THEY ARE
CONSIDERING -- CONSIDERING A
CURFEW IN THIS COUNTRY’S LARGEST
CITY IN THE WAKE OF THE PROTESTS
WE’VE SEEN OVER THE LAST FEW
DAYS.
IF YOU WERE ADVISING THE MAYOR,
WOULD YOU SUGGEST THAT NEW YORK
CITY GO UNDER CURFEW.
>> AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME, I
WOULD NOT.
NEW YORK IS A HUGE CITY, LIKE
LOS ANGELES, BUT DIFFERENT IN
MANY RESPECTS IN TERMS OF
DENSITY.
THE REALITY IS THAT THE
DISTURBANCES IN NEW YORK HAVE
BEEN RELATIVELY CONFINED TO A
FEW AREAS OF THE CITY.
THERE’S HUGE PORTIONS OF THE
CITY THAT HAVE NOT BEEN HAVING
DISTURBANCES.
CURFEWS ARE PHENOMENALLY COSTLY
IN TERMS OF MANPOWER,
COMMITMENT, THE NUMBER OF
PERSONNEL TO SUPPORT THEM.
AT THIS JUNCTURE, I CAN
UNDERSTAND THE MAYOR’S AND
POLICE COMMISSIONER’S HESITANCY
ABOUT THE CURFEW IN NEW YORK
CITY AT THIS TIME.
>> COMMISSIONER, I WANT TO GET
YOUR TAKE ON SOME VIDEO.
I’M SURE YOU’VE SEEN IT.
MOST FOLKS HAVE SEEN IT BY NOW.
THIS WAS SOME VIDEO TAKEN IN NEW
YORK CITY OF THIS SUV, THIS
POLICE SUV.
THERE IT IS RIGHT THERE, ROLLING
INTO A CROWD OF DEMONSTRATORS
THIS WEEKEND.
THE COMMISSIONER SAID THEY ARE
INVESTIGATING MULTIPLE
INCIDENTS.
WHAT’S YOUR ASSESSMENT OF HOW
THE NYPD HAS HANDLED THESE
PROTEST S
PROTESTS THUS FAR?
>> SPEAKING SPECIFICALLY TO THE
VIDEO YOU JUST SHOWED, MY
UNDERSTANDING BASED ON THE
POLICE COMMISSIONER’S COMMENTS
HERE IN NEW YORK CITY DESCRIBING
SOME OF THE EVENTS AROUND THAT
EVENT
EVENT THAT WHAT IS NOT SEEN IN
THE VIDEO IS WHERE THOSE TWO
VEHICLES WERE COMING FROM.
EVIDENTLY THEY WERE SURROUNDED
BY DEMONSTRATORS WHO WERE
BEATING ON THE VEHICLE, ET
CETERA.
THIS IS A CITY WHERE THE DAY
BEFORE A MOLOTOV COCKTAIL WAS
THROWN AT THREE OFFICERS SITTING
IN A VEHICLE.
SO THE HEIGHTENED SENSE OF
CONCERN, IF YOU WILL, BEING
SURROUNDED IN A POLICE VEHICLE
BY A GROUP OF DEMONSTRATORS MAY
HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE
OFFICERS’ ACTIONS ATTEMPTING TO
EXIT FROM A GROUP YOU CAN’T SEE
IN THE VIDEO THAT YOU’RE
SHOWING.
AGAIN, THIS IS A REPRESENTATION
BY THE POLICE COMMISSIONER OF
NEW YORK, WHO IS MORE INTIMATE
WITH THE DETAILS.
IT WILL BE PART OF THE OVERALL
INVESTIGATION OF THIS INCIDENT
AND A NUMBER OF OTHERS CAPTURED
ON VIDEO.
THE MAYOR AND POLICE
COMMISSIONER 15 MINUTES AGO
COMMITTED TO THAT FULL REVIEW.
I THINK THEY ARE LOOKING AT
OUTSIDE SOURCES TO CONDUCT THOSE
INVESTIGATIONS.
>> COMMISSIONER, IN ADDITION TO
THESE IMAGES, AND THERE HAVE
BEEN A NUMBER OF THEM, WE HAVE
ALSO SEEN A NUMBER OF DISPLAYS
OF SHOWS OF SOLIDARITY BETWEEN
POLICE, BETWEEN DEMONSTRATORS AS
WELL.
I SPENT SOME TIME THIS MORNING
WITH SHERIFF CHRIS SWANSON.
HIS VIDEO WENT VIRAL OVER THE
WEEKEND.
HE’S THE SHERIFF THAT PUT DOWN
HIS PATTONBATON, PUT DOWN HIS WE
MARCHED ARM IN ARM IN STEP WITH
THE PROTESTERS.
THIS IS PART OF WHAT HE TOLD ME.
TAKE A LISTEN.
>> I CAN’T ANSWER WHAT THE NEXT
BEST DECISION IS EXCEPT FOR LAY
DOWN YOUR ARMS, THAT POLICE AND
PROTESTERS HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER
TO SAY, HEY, LET’S TAKE A NIGHT
OF CALM AND FIND OUT WHAT’S
HAPPENING.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS.
CREATE THE CONVERSATION THAT
MAKES THE CHANGE.
EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT CHANGE.
CHANGE COMES WITH ACTION.
I’VE GOT TO BELIEVE THERE’S
FOLKS IN THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT
WANT PEACE AND WANT ACTION.
MAN, I FEEL TERRIBLE FOR POLICE
OFFICERS INJURED, PEOPLE THAT
HAVE BEEN KILLED, CITIES THAT
HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BUT IT’S
GOING TO TAKE TIME.
I SEE WHAT’S HAPPENED LIKE THE
WORLD DOES, AND IT BREAKS OUR
HEART, BUT THERE HAS TO BE A
FIRST MOVE.
THERE HAS TO BE A FIRST STEP.
THAT HAS TO COME FROM BOTH
SIDES.
>> COMMISSIONER, HOW FAR DO ACTS
LIKE THAT GO IN CHANGING THE
PERCEPTION THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE
OF THE POLICE?
>> THEY GO A LONG WAY.
THERE ARE MANY IMAGES LIKE THAT
AROUND THE COUNTRY, THE FRONT
PAGE AND ONE OF THE TABLOIDS IN
NEW YORK SHOWED A NUMBER OF
POLICE OFFICERS TAKING A KNEE,
IF YOU WILL.
YOU HAVE TO DO THIS IN THE
APPROPRIATE ENVINMENT.
THAT CANNOT HAPPEN LAYING DOWN
YOUR ARMS WHEN THE AGITATORS AND
ANARCHISTS PURPOSEFULLY ENGAGING
POLICE TO INCITE, TO INJURE TO
MAIM, SPRAYING GRAFFITI, KILLING
POLICE.
APPROACHING THIS ISSUE, TIME AND
PLACE, AND TRYING TO FIND THE
RIGHT APPROACH FOR WHAT YOU ARE
FACING AT A PARTICULAR POINT IN
TIME, IF YOU LIVE IN NEW YORK
CITY AND YOU UNDERSTAND THE
GREAT EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MADE IN
RECENT YEARS TO MOVE FORWARD
BUILDING NEIGHBORHOOD POLICING
FOR OUR NATION, COLLABORATION
BETWEEN THE POLICE AND
COMMUNITY.
BUT AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT IN
TIME, YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO
ACCOUNT CERTAIN SITUATIONS WHERE
POLICE ARE BEING ATTACKED P IT
WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO LAY DOWN
THEIR ARMS OR CALLS TO ABOLISH
POLICE.
THE POINT I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE,
I HAVE NOT SEEN ONE INTERVIEW
WITH A POLICE OFFICER OVER THE
PAST FIVE DAYS.
I’VE SEEN INTERVIEWS WITH
DEMONSTRATORS, I’VE SEEN
INTERVIEWS WITH POLITICIANS.
I’VE SEEN INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE
LIKE MYSELF WHO USED TO BE IN
THE BUSINESS.
GET OUT THERE AND TALK TO SOME
OF THOSE COPS AND UNDERSTAND
WHAT THEY ARE FACING.
GET THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT
THEY ARE FEELING OR THE FEAR AND
CONCERN ABOUT THE CITIES THEY
ARE SWORN TO PROTECT AND SEEING
HOW THOSE CITIES ARE BEING
DESTROYED.
THAT HAS NOT BEEN DONE.
I WOULD ENCOURAGE THIS CHANNEL
THAT I WORK WITH, AS WELL AS THE
OTHERS, GET A FULL PERSPECTIVE
IN TERMS OF WHAT THE POLICE ARE
UP AGAINST TRYING TO MAINTAIN
ORDER AND EFFECTIVELY REDUCE
VIOLENCE AND DESTRUCTION.
>> COMMISSIONER BRATTON, I WOULD
JUST POINT OUT, NOT TO TAKE
ISSUE WITH THAT ASSESSMENT, I
WOULD POINT OUT THAT I DID TALK
TO A POLICE OFFICER LAST NIGHT,
A D.C. POLICE OFFICER.
IT WAS PART OF MY STORY THIS
MORNING, AND HIS PERSPECTIVE WAS
UNIQUE, AND WE INCLUDED THAT.
I WOULD ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO GO