After an unsuccessful meeting with Bill Bratton on Wednesday night, a few NYPD union officials indicated that they’re getting a little fed up with Bill de Blasio’s police chief.
From DNAinfo:
“Right now the commissioner is getting the benefit of the doubt, but if the tone he has continues in lockstep with the mayor, he is going to lose his beloved cops as well,” the official said.
“Right now, morale is even lower than it was under [Raymond] Kelly, which I thought was impossible,” another union official said.
“But no one expects de Blasio to change his position. It’s not in his DNA. However, we are giving the commissioner the benefit of the doubt.”
“Things are very fragile, and [Bratton] has been getting dangerously close to losing us,” another said.
Of course, the NYPD’s union leaders openly encouraged tension with de Blasio even before the shootings of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, so they might be making things look a bit worse than they actually are. But, either way, Bratton remains in the unenviable position of trying to bridge the divide between New York’s cops and its mayor. “It was a mistake not to strike a truce,” said one of the officials. “De Blasio sticking to his base, but we are Bratton’s base.” What will happen if the rank-and-file starts to, as DNAinfo put it, “turn their backs” on Bratton, too? It’s unclear, but some dizziness probably won’t be the worst of it.
