A message from NYPD Commisioner Bratton to his officers. Echoing todays Daily News editorial, I want to once again compliment the men and women of the NYPD on your “superb performance” over the last several weeks in policing the many marches and demonstrations across the city. Despite often being confronted by some agitators in the crowd whose only interest is to provoke you, you have displayed professionalism, patience, and restraint. Your conduct has been exemplary. Even when physically assaulted, you have responded only with the force appropriate to the threat you are facing. That these demonstrations have remained largely peaceful is a testament to YOU. In this message I would like to reference in particular the performance of all those involved in last nights demonstration,which was compounded by adverse weather. The clearing and opening of FDR drive was an excellent example of the crowd management and arrest-and-control procedures for which this Department is noted. Forty-four years ago, I was a 23-year-old Boston police officer and had just returned from active military duty during the Vietnam war. Like you, I policed many similar demonstrations. Back then the protests were about many things: the Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, the pursuit of voting rights, the quest to desegregate housing and the public schools. But then, as now, they were also about the actions of the police. It was a time when the men and women of the military and the police profession were vilified by many in our society for serving our country and our communities. Those events spanned a decade during which I rose through the ranks from police officer to Superintendent in Chief of the Boston Police Department, even while the size of the force went from 2,800 officers to 1,544. I reference these events to reinforce your understanding of why I so admire this Department and you who serve in it. Having been through similar circumstances, having walked in your shoes, I understand how difficult the job of a police officer is—in good times and bad. Thank you all for what you do for this City, this Department,and for the American police profession. You do it consistently, constitutionally, and respectfully—in the best of times and the worst of times. Always remember: “Cops Count, Police Matter.”All the time. We are the thin blue thread that delivers on the promises of our Constitution. We provide public safety so thatthe many other diverse threads that make up our democratic society can be woven together to form the fabric of our “more perfect union.” Thank you, and be safe.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 12:01:07 +0000