Mayor Bill de Blasio, who faced boos and heckling at a New York Police Department graduation ceremony Monday, is slated to meet police union officials Tuesday in an effort to defuse hostilities.More.
The mayor is scheduled to meet leaders of the Captains Endowment Association, Lieutenants Benevolent Association, Sergeants Benevolent Association, Detectives’ Endowment Association and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. Police Commissioner William Bratton and senior NYPD leadership are also expected to attend.
An aide to the mayor said officials at City Hall, along with department officials, reached out to the union leaders to set up the meeting after Mr. de Blasio last week set in motion plans to meet the labor leaders.
On Monday, Mr. de Blasio praised the 884 graduates assembled for the ceremony at Madison Square Garden for choosing what he described as a “noble calling,” telling the newly minted police officers they will “stare down the danger” and “keep the peace.”
“You serve the people of the greatest city in the world. You serve in the greatest and finest police department on this Earth,” Mr. de Blasio said. “It takes a special kind of person to put their lives on the line for others.”
But the mayor, who has been the target of intense criticism since two New York City officers were fatally shot in an ambush five days before Christmas, was met by a chorus of boos amid tepid applause.
At one point when he told the officers they will confront a number of societal problems they didn’t create, a member of the audience heckled him, saying the mayor created those problems.
In an audience that numbered in the thousands, a handful in the crowd stood during the mayor’s remarks with their backs turned to him.
On Dec. 20, some officers had turned their backs to the mayor at a hospital news conference announcing the deaths of Officer Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. Some repeated that act at Officer Ramos’s funeral on Saturday.
Also at the Washington Post, "De Blasio-police rift shows few signs of closing."
ADDED: From Downtrend, "Watch Bill De Blasio’s Heckler Receive a Round of Applause."
MORE: Linked at AoSHQ, "Police Boo, Turn Backs on De Blasio at Police Academy Graduation Ceremony." Thanks!
Also at Marathon Pundit, "(Video) De Blasio receives boos and catcalls at NYPD graduation ceremony." Thanks!
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