Statement by the President of the NYC PBA on the new NYPD use of force tracking policy and the inspector general’s report

PBA President Lynch said: 

“No amount of new training or additional paperwork will make necessary force that is lawful and properly used by police officers acceptable to those who want to return to the hands-off, reactive policing strategies that sent crime soaring in the past.  More paperwork coupled with a serious shortage of police officers and the continual second-guessing of their actions is a formula for disaster.  It is a call for police officers to disengage themselves from the very proactive policing that brought this city from the brink of disaster in the 1990s.  We’ve lived through the era of reactive policing where cops could do nothing but respond to 911 calls, causing crime and disorderly behavior to run rampant in our neighborhoods.  New York City police officers want to keep our streets safe.  To do that, we need support — not more reports.”