NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a reporter on Monday that forcing the NYPD to submit to oversight from an inspector general would destroy the city of New York:
Appointing an inspector general to oversee the NYPD is a recipe for disaster, Mayor Bloomberg warned yesterday.
“I think if you want to bring crime back, let’s go politicize control of the Police Department,” the mayor said, responding to a reporter’s question about a new City Council bill requiring an IG for cops getting a hearing tomorrow.
“The last thing we need is some politician or judge getting involved with setting policy, because you won’t be safe anymore. But today, you are. Think about that when you write your story,” Bloomberg added.
Who the hell is safe in NYC? It sure wasn't this teenager who was forced to submit to the NYPD's version of 'Stop and Frisk':
This teenager certainly wasn't safe even in his own home, Ramarley Graham, 19, was ordered to stop by NYPD while walking home one afternoon. Police said he was adjusting his pants and that made them suspect he had a gun. Graham did not stop, and instead ran to his home, followed by police who busted down a door and shot him dead in front of his grandmother and 6-year-old brother.
The Occupy Wall Street protesters certainly aren't safe in New York City.
And certainly don't think about the hundreds of millions of dollars the NYPD is spending on "intelligence" without any oversight, because not even the people in New Jersey are off limits to Bloomberg's Army.
The Nation also has an exclusive article out today on "stop and frisk" with an audio recording secretly made by a teenager who was stopped by the NYPD:
Alvin’s (The teen) treatment at the hands of the officers may be disturbing but it is not uncommon. According to their own stop-and-frisk data, the NYPD stops more than 1,800 New Yorkers a day. A New York Times analysis recently determined that more than 20 percent of those stops involve the use of force. And these are only the numbers that the Department records. Anecdotal evidence suggests both figures are much higher.
Bloomberg was asked about the possibility of an IG for the NYPD because on Wednesday, the City Council's Public Safety Committee is discussing four bills. Among them, Int. 881, which would establish an IG to review the police department's "policies, practices, programs and operations."
The FBI and the CIA have inspectors general, but gee whiz, why on earth would Bloomberg's Army need one?
