Transcripts For CSPAN New York City Mayor De Blasio News Conference 20240712

Strata or race. And that theyre there to soy those folks, theyre there to protect those folks. And i hope that they also tell them and provide for them care. Because i think one of the big issues that were going to see as a result of this aside and away from host having audio issues. Let me direct your attention to the Washington Post sunday opinion section. A long list of other people whether at a walmart playing in a park, a traffic stop, already arrested or a car breaks down all who were killed at the hands of Police Inside the Washington Post. Robert from greenville, north carolina. Caller as far as the Police Departments, the fraternal order of police and the Police Unions as long as theyre running the show were going to have these problems because they have too much, they just favor Law Enforcement to the degree where theres officers on the force that have had 10, 15, 20 writeups and theyre still on the force, and if you are in the real workplace that wouldnt happen. Thank you. Host thanks for the call. Joy in illinois. Caller good morning. I just have a couple of things to say. I dont understand how people can say they want to get rid of the police or defund the police. If we didnt have police can you imagine what a chaotic situation everything would become. Just like in minneapolis they just backed off, no police was there, they drove off and let them have it. They just gave the middle finger to the good lawabiding citizens that had businesses and i just think its so disgraceful that theyre holding these demonstrations and letting these riots continue. Because im all for demonstrations, dont get me wrong, im all for that. But if i was out there demonstrating and i saw what was happening i would leave so fast. I just cant understand why, because one cop did this to another man. When i saw that on video i cried and i cried and i cried. I could not believe what i was seeing just like everybody else. But we cant go and destroy all of our cities because of what one cop did. The other cops were rookies. As far as i know that one cop, that was the third shift that he worked. He just became a Police Officer. Host thank you for call. Your comments. Guest well, i appreciate the question and i think she touched on a number of things there. One, there is a lot of chanting for defunding the police. I think really what people are talking about and something that we in the Police Reform movement and certainly in my experience we have been encouraging departments to adopt a differential response which would incorporate things like if you ask Police Officers theyll tell you theyre asked to do too much. And so i think one of the thing that is we talk about is trying to integrate communitybased services and have a Community Base provider go out and respond for instance in a situation where theres a call somebody that has a Mental Health issue. That the first call shouldnt be to the police for Something Like that, in my opinion. With regard to the protests, i think she makes some interesting points and has voice whad a lot of people feel. And there there needs to be a distinction because lawful protests are perfectly fine and the polices role when it comes to lawful protest should be to protect the protesters and to protect their right to carry on their protests. But when people start commiting Property Damage, theft, Violent Crimes against other persons, thats different. The Police Response to that is different. And one of the thing that is we talked about in the Task Force Report was a layered response to mass demonstrations. And unfortunately what im seeing around the country and a lot of place that is recommendation has not been adopted. Hat we called for was having a continuum of managed tactical these when it comes to things. If the first time a protest crowd sees Police Officers theyre wearing their fullon Tactical Gear what some folks would call riot gear characterized as riot gear and theyre entering into the crowd, thats a recipe for disaster. And weve seen it over and over and over again going back 50 years. Thats not the right response. Now, when people start damaging property, when people are looting stores, the Police Response is different. Theyre going to arrest criminals. And i think the woman was absolutely correct that the caller is absolutely correct, if youre involved in a peaceful protest, if youre involved in a lawful protest and you see unlawful behavior get out of there. Host our guest sean smoot former member of president obamas task force on policing. Ploomberg looking at the cost of policing, reporting that over the past four decades the cost of policing has almost tripled from 42. 3 billion to nearly 115 billion in 2017. Roger has this tweet ood morning. Caller ok. I feel when i saw so many young people protesting that we can have a change in our country across the United States Police Forces when they hire people to do this job they should test them and screen them for mental and physical health and anger management. Unions in the Police Department they have to look at complaints against some of the officers. The death of george floyd was a very bad outcome. We should pass laws for criminal justice and Police Reform. This should never happen again. And my question is, how do we get Police Reform . Host how do you answer her question . Guest so i assume that question is being directed to me i didnt hear a prompt. So how we get it is its happening. Its happening now, its been happening for five years. The pace slowed significantly about threeandahalf years ago but there are a lot of departments doing a lot of great things. O if you look at places like new jersey, theyve turned that agency around that reform process started probably ten years ago. Its a model department. Even if you look at the way that theyre dealing with the Current Situation now i would say that most folks would say theyre doing a really good job. There are a number of department that is have started to implement the task force but again i ns think the key is its a cultural change and the unions need to play a role in it as the caller mentioned. And by the way, its become popular to lay a lot of blame on the unions, but they have responsibility. But they also are responsible for improving the profession a great deal over the years. And increasing the caliber, enhancing the caliber and quality of applicants and so on. So theres some shared responsibility that definitely can take place there. But at the end of the day if a department is based on and has in its culture engrained procedural justice at its core and is working towards the Building Trust with the community and is implementing these things reform will happen but it has to happen on the ground it has to happen on a city to city, county to county, state to state basis. Host your reaction of the reporting in New York Times fierce protectors of police impede the efforts to reform saying the unions have ab outside influence in any reforms since ferguson in missouri over the last five years. Guest i havent read that article. This is actually im used to being on central time so this is quite early in the morning for me but ive heard that argument made before. Not specific to missouri but certainly its an argument thats been raised. Ive seen it raised three or four times in the last 24 hours and other mediums. As leaders, that whether your leadership comes from your position as the chief of police or commander in a department, or your leadership position comes because you were elected by the rank and file members of that department, leaders need to lead in these situations. And where there are problems we need to address them. And i think if that doesnt happen internally then it will be done ultimately. They say if youre not at the table youre on the menu. If everybodys not on board with improving the profession, improving the relationship between police and the communities that they serve, the folks who arent involved in that will likely not come out very well in the end. Host and if you follow her on twitter at maggie nyt she has tweeted out that New York Times story front page on the roll of unions and the Police Departments. Tom next. Good morning. Aller good morning. This is probably going to upset a lot of people and this is not my intention. m trying to look at have very unbiasedly. First i think the culture itself needs to look at itself in the mirror. When they promote Gang Violence , being part of a gang, drawing gang signs and going and intimidating. And the italians did it as far as the mafia goes and all that. What im getting at is with that premise, that groundwork being laid, when youre an offerser and youre running into a community that is well known for extreme gun violence and things like that, and they have to go in there with caution, when they know of a large majoritys gang members are packing firearms and are willing to use them at any given moment in time, now, they need to take a step back and breathe. We all do as a nation. This is just going to a part where its becoming absurd and ridiculous wfment no Law Enforcement then what happens in that community when somebody kills somebody . So what is it just communal policing . Do they do vigilante or somebody gets murdered do we not have justice and law . Its a very complicated and delicate situation by all means but we all need to look at ourselves. And racism exists in every culture, in every facet. It doesnt matter. Its never in my opinion its never been about race, color or religion. Its been about economics. Host thanks for the call from maryland. Any comment . Guest i think he hit on a couple thing there is that i would like to comment on. One, crime is definitely linked to economics. There are disparate impacts in our society, whether its economic, educational opportunities, i am from the chicago area originally. There have been places in the city of chicago whole neighborhoods, big neighborhoods, large geographic areas where theres not a grocery store. Hats a significant disparity. Its hard for people who dont see that in person to understand really the depth of the problem. And what that problem creates. You know who does see it . Police officers. Host our guest sean smoot joining us from alexandria, virginia. Go ahead. Guest i just was going to say i think the idea of guesting from policing is diveresting from policing is flawed. If you have something that is broken you would want to fix it. Ou would be good morning, everybody. If you look outside it is a Beautiful Day today in new york city. But for a lot of reasons yesterday was an even more Beautiful Day. Yesterday we had a powerful expression of peaceful protests all over new york city. People speaking up, calling for change, calling for a different approach to the work of this society, doing it peacefully, doing it passionately, tens of thousands of new yorkers coming out working for a better city, a better nation. I want to thank everybody who has expressed their views peacefully, who has worked for change in this long, complex week in this city, in this nation. I can tell you it is making a huge difference. It was peaceful throughout the day, on the entire day and the entire city relating to the protests again tens of thousands of new yorkers participating. Four arrests and 24 sumances in the entire day. Weve had five days in a row, thank god, where we see peaceful protests predominating an end to the Property Damage we saw earlier in the week which has no place in this city. Because we got sumances in the entire day. Weve had five days in a each d and better situation more and mod more Peaceful Protesters, a better situation overall each day fewer and fewer arrests, i made the decision to end the curfew and honestly i hope its the last time we will ever need a curfew in new york city. So the curfew has ended. It is out of effect. It will not be coming back. And tomorrow something very, very important happens in the city beginning of phase one the restart of this city, the restart of our economy, the restart of peoples livelihoods. We should all feel this is a moment that every new yorker should celebrate as our achievement together, your achievement, because you did the hard work to fight back the coronavirus so we could get to phase one. And tomorrow morning will be a very important day in the history of this city. Now, this week has been a very long week, a tough week in many ways, a houfrl, meaningful week for sure. A week where people call for change and change will happen. Well talk about that today. But i first want to talk about the week and the reality we faced. Again, a thank you to the tens thousands of Peaceful Protesters, a thank you to the tens of thousands of members of the nypd who protected that right to peaceful protest. Everyone worked hard. You can always talk about the exceptions and the problems, and we will. But overall it is important to say thank you to the men and women of the nypd who worked to protect Peoples Democratic rights and their safety. Now, i had four fundamental ideas, fundamental standards that ive been holding throughout this week and weve had to make decisions based on many, many factors. Obviously paramount was protecting the right to peaceful protest and hearing the voices of our Community Calling for change. But the four things i was focused on as the leader of this city, as the steward of this city was avoiding the loss of life across the board. Avoiding serious injury to anyone and everyone involved. Whether they be protester or Police Officer or anyone in this city. Avoiding Property Damage. Never allowing a repeat of what we saw so troublingly at the beginning of the week. And something i talked about many times making sure that the National Guard did not come into new york city which i think would have caused much greater problems and much greater potential for misunderstanding and inadvertent violence. I made clear throughout the week that the nypd was going to use a restrained approach. I know there are deep concerns about specific situations and i respect that but in this city the nypd did not use many of the approaches that were used in other cities. This city the nypd avoided the use of some of the policing tactics, the more militerized policing tactic that is weve seen around this country that i oppose and dont think have any place in new york city. It was crucial to keep out a military presence in the National Guard and im happy to say that we all worked together in this city to avoid that situation. Now, the real work begins in this city. And to say to those who have protested i hear you is simply not enough. I do hear you. I feel it deeply. I literally heard the protests, i saw them, i went all over the city watching very up close. But hearing is just the beginning. There has to be action so people have to see deeds, they have to see change. First, we have to address the issue of officer accountability. 36,000 members of the police force the vast majority of whom do the right thing every day answer a noble call and keep us safe. And a few who do the wrong thing, those few have to experience consequences and we have to see it, we have to feel it, we have to know its real. It takes in new york city too long for there to be accountability for officers who do the wrong thing. That is something we can and must change. That is a tradition that must change. You are starting to see that change. It is not enough yet. I want to be clear but youre starting to see it. Even in the first days of this protest. It might have been lost in the first days of this protest the decision by the commissioner to move on additional discipline arks discipline trial for officers involved in that very troubling ibsdenlt in the Lower East Side a couple weeks ago. That trial will proceed shortly but also the announcement by the commissioner just a day or so ailing regarding some of the incidents that happened this week. I want to makesure clear. Im going to talk abvery quickly a few. There are more under investigation. Each will follow the facts and where discipline is needed it will occur. Last friday an officer in brooklyn shoveled a woman to the ground, a protester, in a very inappropriate fashion, in a dangerous fashion. That officer has been suspended without pay, further disciplinary action will commence. Last saturday an officer pulled down the Face Covering of a protester and sprayed pepper spray at them. That officer has been suspended without pay. Further disciplinary action will commence. There was an nypd superviser, a level officer, who was supposed to be supervising the officer who pushed the woman to the ground and did not. That superviser has been reassigned and further disciplinary action will commence. Those are three examples. There are more investigations under way both within the nypd and then the independent review being done by our counsel and our commissioner for investigations. And of course the state attorney generals review as well. But most importantly each and every incident that is brought to the attention of the nypd and the civil review board will be investigated. I want to see where it is appropriate that there be disciplinary actions that it happen swiftly, i want the public to see it, know it, and have confidence in the disciplinary process of the nypd. That is one type of change we have to make but there are much bigger and deeper reforms that have to happen beyond that. This is directly related to the disparities that are so painfully evident in the city and the disparities that were made so clear by the coronavirus. When we published the information and this city was one of the ones to be most transparent and blunt about the fact that there were profound disparities in the coronavirus crisis, we said that we would do a number of things differently. One of the things i did was to name a task force of City Government leaders, a task force on Racial Equity and inclusion to immediately determine steps that the City Government must take to start addressing disparities right now. There are many bigger things we must do over the next 18 months of this administration. But my charge to this task force was figure out what could happen right now, and then the next 18 months ahead continue that work. Youre going to hear from the leaders of the task force everything that were going to talk about today, the announcements were making directly related to their work and then youll be hearing much more from them on the next week or two on issues beyond policing, a whole set of specific changes that will be made to address disparities in terms of economics, health care, and other issues. Now, lets start with things were going to do right away. And b i want to be clear that in this administration we have focused on young people with initiatives like prek and 3k, with after school for free for every middle school child, young people with beacon rhaps, cornerstone programs, so many initiatives to reach young people and with close cooperation and partnership with city council to focus on Summer Youth Employment which has been roiled this year by the coronavirus. We need to do a lot more for our young people. At the time of my state of the city address in february, we talked about adding support for our young people. We talked about the focus on nypd officers working with young people to address their concerns and issues to help them rather than simply deal with the problem after its already begun to address it at the beginning, at the root. I said in our state of the city speech, our young people dont need to be policed, they need to be reached. And that is the spirit of the reforms were going to talk about today and beyond. Yesterday i was in southeast queens. At deliverance baptist church. I had the opportunity to talk to community members. I was very struck by a lengthy conversation with two Young African American American men, paul and benjamin. They talked about their experience and they talked about their community. And yes they want their community to be safe and yes they understand the jobs that Police Officers have difficult but they want things to be different. They want a different attitude, a different respect. They want their personhood and value to be seen and felt by every single Police Officer and by our society as a whole and they are correct thats what we must do. That is a good example of why when i turn to our task force and said what should we do and we talked over these last few days we had a series of meetings, the Task Force Said it was important to address on the budget level the need to focus more on our young people. The need to make a clear statement that our investments in our young people are our future, policing matters for sure, but the investments in our youth are foundational. I further had lengthy conditions with the black, latino and asian caucuses. I want to thank the cochairs of the caucus. I was with Council Member miller at that church yesterday and it was a very moving experience. The black latino nation caucus has called repeatedly for reconversation of priorities. Were about to go into a budget process to make the final decisions on the city budget but i want to make a statement of principal right now based on the suggestions of the caucus based on the work of the task force that we will be moving funding from the nypd to youth initiatives and social services. The details will be worked out in the budget process in the weeks ahead. But i want people to understand that we are committed to shifting resources to ensure that the focus is on our young people. And i also will affirm while doing that we will only do it in a way that we are certain continues to ensure that this city will be safe. Now the second point something weve talked about for a long time we finally see action on. For years i have said we could do so much more to create trust between communities and police if we got support from albany in changing state law to allow more transparency in the Police Disciplinary process, the 50 a law that has stood in the way of transparency. I have had three Police Commissioners all three called for change in that law. Theres always going to be differences on specific wording and specific ideas but one thing that has been one thing that has been consistent, i felt the law is stands in the way. Im waiting to see the final wording. The vital legislature of the bill that they will review in the next few days. But based on what i have seen so far, i want to support that legislation clearly, the legislatures looking to do, i hope they will do it as early as monday and tuesday. Takeaway the provisions that held back transparency while still protecting the valid security personal information about Police Officers. That is the right direction. I call on them to get this done this week. On disciplinary process, and give the public confidence. Now, one of the things our task force has talked about is an important question of what the nypd should be working on and what it should not be working on. What types type of enforcement is the only type of comes to fighting crime obviously, but other types of enforcement might not work in today passes society. We need to make real change. A task force will be working on the issue going forward, working to determine which areas the change should come in. One that we can announce today is an area of street enter enforcement. Street vendor enforcement should no longer be the responsibility of nypd full. Of nypd. An area they feel passionately about, what Street Vendors do, so many people, including their own business, so many people trying to experience some version of that American Dream which often feels elusive lately but is still there. Color andy people of immigrants, street vending is their opportunity to move forward. Should not have to engage the nypd as they try to make their livelihood. That is what we will do going forward. Finally, one thing the task force heard, and you will hear from the first lady and the deputy mayor in just a moment. We have deputy mayor thompson and a director of our task force administrator. Heard is people wanted to believe and know and feel that their voices were being heard. We will take action in the nypd, we will hire Community Ambassadors, people, civilians deeply steeped in their the ability toh bring concerns of the community to the highest levels of nypd to bring back answers and put it on the status of disciplinary cases and changes in policing that need to be done to allow better fairer policing, to be sure there is a chore and deep connection. It complements policing another step we need to take. I want to say to the first lady and the two deputy mayors, administrator grace and the many directors and other members of the administration who have served on the task force already. Work is already having an impact and a lot more is coming in the next few weeks and for the month that have. Thank you to everyone who has put intense time and energy into the task force knowing we need to make changes right now to fight in new york city. I will turn to someone who has been fighting disparities her entire life from her heart. Our first lady. Thank you. 45 days ago, the mayor establish the Equity Task Force to take immediate action to adjust the needs of our black and brown communities that have suffered disproportionately from the effects of the coronavirus. The numbers speak for themselves. Of the more than 17,000 coronavirus deaths in new york in just a half live few dozen communities, primarily black and brown neighborhoods. In addition to every single one of those deaths, loved ones and families and communities in morning. A loss of those new yorkers means empty chairs at dinner losts, jobs and businesses , houses, households destabilized, empty spaces in the pews, in our houses of ofship, a hole in the hearts mothers, daughters, fathers, sons. The loss of so many people we serve as chilling and painful for all of us. This task forces led by a Diverse Group of administration officials, many of whom more born in or have lived and worked in the same communities, including myself. It was a reminder that it is not enough to sit here and say we are a progressive administration. Enough to stop and frisk and we have begun policing. Since the task force launched at the end of april, these losses and suffering have flared into righteous anger and protests. Against institutional racism that has fueled these disparities. Traditions,s and and every segment of our society that has built and bolstered this country, from housing patterns to health access, to employment and policing, too many of our people are trapped in an inescapable cycle of suffering, feeling the same limitations in the same pain over and over again. Mission of the task force is more important than ever. We are moving with haste and urgency. We know it is not enough to only listen to the voices calling for change, 100 communitybased that serve the hardest hit neighborhoods. We have to act. We have to look our at ourselves and ask, what did we better . To make things how are things changing . People have had an opportunity to Work Together in a way that city andedented in the country. We all got an earful of what we are doing and what would benefit the communitys. We reviewed for the weekend they have seen immediate recommendations to begin reforming the nypd. We heard more funding for youth and social services. We heard more Community Voices within the nypd. We heard more investments focused on prevention. Todays announcements are just of what will be ongoing actions until the end of the administration. , tos Community Ambassadors represent residents of these communities, will keep the nypd informed about Community Concerns and make sure residents have meaningful support from the nypd. The shift in funding from the nypd from youth and social services will help preserve services for youth and communities of color. The vendor and administrative enforcement will be moved out of the nypd so that Code Violations will not require an officer whose presence could escalate an encounter. We are moving forward. We are not waiting for anything or anyone will stop no one and i say no one wants to go back to the way things were before. So many people rose up in beautiful protests this last demanding justice, demanding that things change, naming our pain. We must use the moment to , to berm our pain stronger and take action, especially now when we are in the most difficult of circumstances. We must act now and proof that black lives matter. When times are good and when times are bad. Black lives matter. Thank you. Passion,itment, that that sense of purpose you just heard, i know it is felt by every member of the task force. I want to turn to our deputy mayor, who has put a lifetime into this work. I know he remembers struggles in the city going back decades for the kind of justice we are still fighting for in so many ways and must achieve in our time. I turn to the deputy mayor, ronald. To the deputy mayor. But thank you for bringing us together. It is about solving a problem by unifying all of us and not by dividing people in the city. Ago and in30 years those days, i was participating in demonstrations that were. Ooking for more funding partner was very proud of whom we lost a cup of weeks ago. Thatetime of understanding andnfranchised communities people of color, 30 years same, i am seeing alsolels with covid19 affecting, disproportionately, people and communities of color. Highlighting how our system should allow for Peaceful Demonstrations that lead to change, and how the pentup communities, the sadness and pain for having lost so many, still remains. Force, to work with the first lady in the deputy mayor, i realized that i cannot a health and from services angle, but we need all of the pieces to come together and help our youth and our city come back even stronger. Just like we did during the aids epidemic. We willly confident come together and address everything related to Public Health and covid19, and also societal issues related to structural racism. I may. Ish, if [speaking spanish] before i turn to one more topic, i will say, i want it to be abundantly clear to all new yorkers, these are first steps in what would be 18 months of making intense change in this city. The task force is crucial and many efforts are underway right now to determine how we come back from the coronavirus, and how we build in city that is profoundly addressing the the injustices and disparities there. This is a transformative moment. I expect us to urgently work for change until the very last day we are here. A different reality in the nypd and in this city as a whole. To make these changes and they need to be the kinds of changes that people feel down to the neighborhood, serve lots, that is the mandate im giving myself and the mandate the task force believes in. It is what we will achieve. City will be a more just place. Were all more new yorkers help,hat their cries for their anger, their pain, their demands for change, have not only been heard. With that, i want to turn to the issue we have all been focusing on now. Beennot believe it has almost 100 days of coronavirus. What a horrible unchallenging and painful time. Moment of extraordinary and powerful action by the people of this city, including extraordinary common cause to beat back this disease. See of this is in ways you to help each other, the food banks and soup kitchens, so many people have come forward. Every time you put on a Face Covering, every time you socially this is, every time you stay home and wish you did not once again, the fruits of your labors. It is important as we get ready for tomorrow, the first day of phase one. The number of people admitted to hospitals for covid19, the threshold is 200 patients. Reported 72, well within the threshold. Today, 324. Also well within the for the threshold. And, the threshold of 15 and todays report is 14 . A very good number. That is what you have achieved together. Another way to move forward, beating back this disease, restarting, and then doing the work of recovery together. Spanish [speaking spanish] just a reminder that we have first lady mccrae and the deputy mayor in person and deputy mayor thompson and executive director of the task force on the phone. Us, i will with start with roger. Roger, are you there . Roger. We will circle back. Next, from the daily news. Good morning, everyone. To stay make a request on muted so i can ask a followup, with that hold on. Were working on the ground rules and we let us do that formally. We will announce it shortly. Stay to the format we have. If you want to do just one, that is your choice. I will dive in. Reporters andher i saw groups of proteins peacefully marching past curfew and the nypd allowing them to do so. I saw protests starting around chinatown, ending around 11 00 with no incidents. Why didnt the nypd allow peaceful protests to run their course all week instead of doing crackdowns that resulted in Peaceful Protesters getting injured. On enforcement of vendors, i did not see any hear any activists even mention that this week. Critics will say, you are going for a relatively easy fix while ignoring calls for a major budget reduction. What would be your response . Thank you. On the vendor, this is been a longstanding issue. Issues wethinks the are addressing in the city are only those brought up in last week, it million people. We have costly than talking to people at the community level. The task force for weeks and. They are acting on issues they hear from people. The protests are powerful and profound but they are not alone. There is a host of other issues and the task force was formed to look at the broad issues affecting the city. Particularly immigrant communities, i have heard from Many Community leaders and activists, from many elected officials including this week, so it is an important example of change. It is not the only change you will see by any stretch of the imagination. To it is an important step say, here is an area that we are certain does not need to include nypd enforcement. You will see more actions going forward. Have talked to a lot of vendors and those who support them. Felt that often times, enforcement was heavyhanded. We want to stop that. We wanted to be sensitive enforcement. I think that is a better approach. Goals, peaceful protests must be protected. We also have extraordinary complex situations all stop i have never seen anything like it a small ande committed group of lets call them anarchists. We are clear about the systematic approach they took to try and incite and commit violence, unlike the other tens of thousands of Peaceful Protesters. But that come in and everything. A tax on property complicated everything. It is not what we have seen in the history of peaceful protests in the city. At the end of the day, we saw night after night of peaceful protests. The last few nights especially, we saw huge numbers of protesters who peacefully went about their protest with very few arrests. That is what we were trying to get through and that is what we got. There are real complexities. It does not mean that everything was done perfectly because they were not. It must be addressed through discipline. Im sure there were moments when a tactic that was meant to achieve one thing may have achieved other things that were not meant. We have got to be clear about all this. Everything has to be reviewed. It will be reviewed by our. Ommissioner for investigations the attorney generals looking at the overall situation in the protest. The review board is looking at individual cases. Anything deemed inappropriate will be acted on at the individual level or the policy level. To emphasize, we are tremendously we have to menace a complex challenges this week. I am proud of new yorkers that at this point of the end of the week, overwhelmingly peaceful. Some of the worst stuff we saw. Time to move forward. We will circle back. Luis. You hear me . Yes. Good morning. When you announced the likely phase to reopening for early july, were you airing on the side of caution . Generally speaking, a 14 day lapse when transitioning to from one space to another, which would have put us at june 22 for reopening. ,n the subject of street fairs in light of how new yorkers will be heading in in greater numbers, do you think this might be something to think about for a phase three reopening . About this with someone else and we were thinking that besides from besides limited capacity, the other idea might mean people traveling in one direction, supermarkets now, distancing further apart. I got it. Youhase two, human eat hit the nail on the head. Abundance of caution is exactly what i was doing. We were the epicenter and we remain the epicenter of this disease in this state. Our reopening is much more complex than any other part of the state. According to the official chart, it could be as little as two weeks before we get to phase two. We will be in constant communication with the state and watching very carefully what is happening with indicators and threshold. If we do not like what we see, we will slow down the pace. Able to go even faster. Think about the beginning of july as the target. But as a safer and smarter way to think about it. I do not want expectations so high in june. I will be very vocal about it. Were watching the impact of the protests. Some x factors here causing some pause. You are exactly right that i did that purposefully. Street fairs, i do not think so at the moment. A bigger discussion. Events in july and august, and september, whether we think we should have large groups of people. Everything were talking about so far is really carefully thinking about social distancing. Big events make that really hard. It is a must a contradiction. We will consider it and i do need to speak to it soon, but i start with the assumption that that is hard to achieve if we are really going to keep a lid on this disease. We will speak to that sin. Hi, everyone. The nypd budget, you talked about speeding up the disciplinary process. Would need tou hire additional to attorneys and other personnel. Are you committing to providing the funding and the executive budget . And they question, i was just wondering if you have seen the videos are heard complaints that gest peaceful protests Peaceful Protesters were routinely met with aggressive policing last week . Mayor de blasio i will speak to the first issue. Excellent question. It is exactly the kind of thing we have to make sense of in the next three weeks before we approve a city budget. I would say this is an example that, even while we will be shifting funding from the nypd to Youth Programs and social services, there also may be some areas where they say, in the name of justice and transparent he, in the name of addressing concerns of people, we need to make additional investments. If we determine in the next few need that they actually more attorneys at the nypd to speed up the disciplinary process, that would be a smart investment. I can to you that now. Speed up see the nypd the process. I have had this conversation with the commissioner. We are deep under the hood of how we will do that but it might take some more personnel. I think that would be a good use of taxpayer dollars to ensure that discipline is speedy and transparent and effective. With that, i turned to the first lady. Can you repeat the question . Yes. I was just wondering, if you had seen any of the videos that respondinghow police with fairly aggressive tactics toward apparently Peaceful Protesters, including also, officials like to money he said, who have said, plainly that he believes Peaceful Protesters were routinely met with aggressive policing last week. I was curious about your assessment of the condition last week. I want to make one point. I appreciate that you said apparently. People i raisehe concerns, but apparently is a key word here. Sometimes, we saw a video that was part of what happened but not all of what happened. It sometimes looks like we had a group of diesel protesters, and some folks who aim to do violence. I see more and more evidence of it. It can be a small group and not representative at all but it creates a entirely different i would just caution that the more we see the facts of what happened, it is not linear. Not one or the other. Sometimes, there are people in the peaceful crowd who are not peaceful. It is not the other peoples fault but it creates a problem for the nypd. I have seen the images of brutality. I have been watching them all week long. All around the country. Im sickened by them. It is painful to watch. Will not tolerate any of that kind of policing in new york city. I am pleased to say that what we have seen in new york city does not reflect a lot of what we have seen in other places. We have a long way to go. We can always make things better. But we really value and honor the right to protest. I have to say, i have been exhilarated by seeing all of the protesters right there using their right, shouting for change. This is how we make change. It is something that has been coming for a long time and we need it. Toapparently, you gave birth one of those protesters. Absolutely. [laughter] veryas my child and im proud. Your questiono is very important. We saw things all over the country we would not allow here. The National Guard was president was present in cities all over the country. We will not allow the National Guard in the city. It will only make things more tense. The nypd can handle the situation. I have deep respect for the National Guard. They did not belong policing urban areas of the country. Second, we said we would keep the peace. Stop the damage of property. What we saw for a few days, on acceptable, the Property Damage stopped. We would never allow the original tragedy in minneapolis was discussing. The killing of george floyd. We will never see that in the city again but he will also not see a protest burn down a police briefing. That did not happen. You did not see the nypd using fear death tear gas. You did not see them using rubber bullets. Youd these are all things int become very common american policing dealing with protests. That is not what was allowed here and it did not have it here. Many things to improve but i want people to recognize the painstaking effort that was put to bring a complex picture together, weed out those who were violent among protesters, and stop them from hurting everyone else, protesters, Police Officers. In brooklyn the other day, i think this story has been reported publicly, violent protesters arrived, i believe in this case from outofstate or had a outofstate plates, and they brought weapons and p is for protesters saw them and reported them to the nypd. The nypd was able to arrest them. Has been a very complex dynamic. In the end, were coming out of the week strong and ready to make profound change. I wanted to add to something the mayor said earlier, and that jim johnson as well as the head of the department of investigations are gathering facts and are going to make ofommendations on violations peaceful protests, and that will include Police Officers who did stifle peoples right to express peaceful attests, as well as looking the protesters that damaged property or did other things that have nothing to do with legitimate protests. That process is underway and people who do have videos or other evidence of wrongdoing, they should ethically send those to jim johnson. An excellentio point and something we need to do is make sure with jim johnson, that we are making available to people the opportunity to get information to them as part of their independent review. Lets do it today or tomorrow, we will publicize where people can bring their concerns. At the wholek picture including this phenomenon and violence that is very rare. We have seen it in this country and in other parts of the country and in the world. We just have not seen it in new york city that much. We need to get to the bottom of that as well. Next, from the New York Times. Mr. Mayor, when you say you want to cut funding and shift resources, can you be more specific . Are you referring to the 10 millionwith a toy 5 the council said nyt could direct . It is a process we will go through with the city council. Put this forward lightly. The decision was made carefully working with the task force. It is something that will obviously be negotiated in the buzz budget process. We are committed to seeing a shift of funding to youth services, social services, that will happen literally in the course of the next few weeks. But i will not go into detail because it is subject to negotiation and we want to figure out what makes sense and we want to be sure that the other absolutely crucial piece of the equation, keeping the safety and security of new yorkers all over the city, that that is done properly as well. In the will come out course of the budget process. Next, steve. Good morning, mr. Mayor. Hope you can see me hear me well. I want to ask a couple of questions. Fort, i would like to call a return to in person press briefings, which i think we can do safely with social distancing and appropriate space. I would like that to be considered. Regarding Police Tactics for essentiallyrfew, without warning, protesters move in and then make arrests. I think we agree these were acts of nonviolence and double disobedience when they protested be on the curfew. In the past, civil disobedience, if you do not disperse, you will be arrested, and they gave people the opportunity to leave. In the past few nights, they move in on the crowds, chaotic situations and violent conflicts. I am wondering how and why the decision was made to use this police tactic, not seen in new york city with prior nonviolent acts of disobedience question my second question is, it has been over a week since the protests began. He ran for president as the most progress progressive mayor and the most progressive city in america. You announced Police Reform today. People who work in your administration have been expressing tremendous disappointment that you did not seize the moment earlier and get out in front of the protests as the standardbearer for Police Reforms and policies to end stuff systemic racism. What is your reaction . I understandio that and it relates to your previous question. I tried to articulate throughout the week the challenge. Im absolutely a progressive that we will make a profound change and we have. Stewart also the steward of the city. Element infferent the protests. It was not just Peaceful Protesters. It just was not. I saw plenty of evidence and plenty of video. It just was not the same thing we saw before. It was not civil disobedience alone. I have been in plenty of protests where it is such a Standard Approach for the nypd. They know exactly how to allow peaceful protests. They know exactly what to do with civil disobedience, where people are not trying to resist arrest or create an altercation or use violence. Them, i could go over the whole procedure with you in my sleep. This was not that. That was part one of the problem. Hours, it was4 clear it was different. I was talking to mayors across the country and that was a dangerous scenario. We saw a tax on Police Officers attacks oncent Police Officers and on innocent civilians. It is not just one thing this week. What we saw sunday and monday night was unprecedented. We had not see it in seen it in decades. It was intolerable. Figuring out how to address all of that and strike the right clear withhave to be you, that was where my focus was. I knew they were bigger issues to address. I am trying to be clear that the changes are happening now and more are coming. The fact is, when you are only speaking to the issues, and not running something is difficult and challenging as this city, especially in the crisis we are in with the coronavirus, i know it may look simpler than it is. I know that people rightfully say, could you have come forward more quickly and had answers . That is a fair concern. I would say to anyone, if they have been watching deeply in the last 6. 5 years the change we have made, they should know we intend to make a lot more. Here today, forcefully. That this isching, too slow, we saw evidence of the last few days that it will move faster and be more appropriate. We saw it in the case of the Lower East Side. But it was a perfect storm that i cannot describe to you. My first concern, i believe it was in the interest of safety, and being able to move forward to make change to make sure there was no loss of life. There were many times in the last week where that was close to happening. There was not a substantial number of injuries, thank god we avoided that. To stop what we saw sunday and monday night, which was painfully unacceptable. And very rare. The conversation with the commissioner yesterday or the day before, then a conversation, with phil thompson, all of us with Public Service dating back to the 1990s, and before, we were trying to think, when was the last time we saw Something Like that, and we could not think of it. That had to be stopped and it was. To the other part of your a frame on whyis Everything Else happened. There had to be a commitment. There had to be a commitment. Past the attacks on people and property, getting us past the efforts to incite violence, past attacks on Police Officers to peaceful protests. That is what was achieved. Ofthe way, tens of thousands peas new yorkers came out. I think they rebalanced the equation. Protesters who saw someone ready to do violence and turned to the police to stop them. That is the real new york city. Always tell you when i think there is something we can do better. I am certain i could have done some things better this week. I want you to know that the points i made detecting life and protecting people from serious injury, protecting against a tax on property. When i was in the bronx, it was tragic to see Small Businesses by criminals in the community who took advantage of the moment and the anger the residents felt, the pain and sense of loss that they put their whole life into building businesses. When you see Something Like that, you do not think you can just turn away. You have to make people safe. While at the same time keeping military force and making sure the protests were as peaceful as possible. We will review everything that happened and different tactics. We will change but were not consistently and only peaceful protests and civil disobedience. The commission articulated that throughout the week. I hope people listen. I will finish with this. There is a disparity also, and disparities we talk about and communities are the ones we should focus on. Who have really been oppressed by racism in this society. There also has to be an honesty about fact. I do not think the Public Discourse has been appropriate in terms of talking about what has really happened here over these 6. 5 years. 2019, 180,000 fewer people were arrested in the last year under the bloomberg administration. 180,000 fewer. And the city got fate safer. Given theer seen that attention it deserves. Our level of incarceration, over 11,000 cars rated people dad took office, around 4000 today. The lowest level of incarceration since world war ii in new york city. I do not see that talked about enough. Isterms of leading, leading not just words. It is not just symbolism. It is action. Real people want action more than just symbolism. I tried and this entire team has tried to lead by making changes in peoples lives. Everyone who was not arrested who did not need need to be arrested, was not sent to jail who should have been sent to lives changed. That is the change we have made and we will make a lot more changes over the next 18 months. Next. All right, we will circle back. Next, we have duncan. Good morning. Mayor de blasio how are you doing . Are you doing all right . Mayor de blasio yes. I could use more sleep but other than that, i am ok. I have a couple of questions for you this morning. There is something implicit here that i would like to see if you will make explicit. Did you approve the tactics that we saw the nypd using, starting on june 3 and june 4 . More sort of pushing protests, that sort of thing, did you approve of . Secondly, as deputy mayor hand deputy mayor just indicated, these disparities of covid19 that covid19 revealed, have been in existence since at least the 1980s. We have known about the protests. 2013 on a talein of two cities. Beenthose disparities have minimized or reduced if you have started addressing those things lets say six years ago . Mayor de blasio ive i appreciate the question and i know both were said in an honest spirit. I appreciate that. One, i am the first to say look, i think it would be disingenuous to say i the back at this at first six. 5 years and say it was perfect. It was not. There are many things i wish i had done differently. There is also there are also some things i wish i had done divinely if i had more information or more understanding of how things work. To some extent, you learn by going along and see possibilities later that you did not see at the beginning. It is also a profound issue of, what are you trying to do and when can you do it . At the beginning, and stop and frisk is a powerful example. I am not harping because it is yesterdays news. I think it was profoundly important. I am trying to bring people back to the moment. When i came in, there was a decaffeinated in this city, editorial boards, the then mayor as i was coming into office, the Police Commissioner saying if we got rid of that policy, it would lead to chaos, disorder, crime, and i did not believe that. I forged ahead. But no one knew until we did it if it would work. And then you go through Everything Else we did when we got rid of marijuana arrests, when we reduce the number of when we havell, policing as a strategy, you do not know if they will work or not but you have to figure out what are the priorities and what will have the biggest impact. To deal with all of the energy you have got to put one on top of the other on top of the other. When we restart to set when we decided to incarcerate people, of course you can say dangersre are potential impassive that. These are real issues. At discipline issues, and, for example, i have been very clear. I have to take responsibility for a misunderstanding. The mistakes of my mistakes. We richard referred to the Justice Department in the Obama Administration and the kids of eric garner. That was a mistake. I should have listened. Hould have said the ny be nypd process should go, even if the department of justice did not like it. I should have gone and said, this is your choice all stop i am ready to go, do you want to take this chance or not . That is the way we will do in the future. I look back and there are things i definitely wish i had done differently. I also am convinced we were building costly and agenda of change and it was never easy and now, for 80 months, we are unfettered. I am term limited. We are in a place that is clear and fearless. We will get a lot done in 18 months. Judge of us by what you see in the next year and a half. To your other question, it is a very good question. I have to try and explain with very few words and nuance. Toonstantly talk commissioner about everything i see in those videos. The chief of the department, the chief of patrol. We talk all the time. There are things i see that i do not like the look of and we talk it through. I think baton usage should be minimal. One thing that will be looked at is, was it appropriately used or not . That is why we are doing an independent review. Is anare times when it appropriate tactic and there are times when it is not. There are times when you have to arrest people because there is the potential for violence and times when that was not the case, potentially. Even the question of how you at any given moment as Police Control a crowd or stop a crowd or keep them in a single place, that is sometimes a very valid approach if there is an emergency or danger that the police may know about but the protesters do not and other times, there is not. Strategieshe broad and sometimes, very specific choices. I have mentioned some of those. I do not like everything i saw in the videos at all. I do not like instances that have now lead to immediate discipline. You could see a mile away there was something wrong with them. More are being reviewed. I want a review of everything that happened. Do i think the overall approach affected the reality that we are a massive, unseen . N decades, attack on property a profound negative vandalism and criminality around property that was not just an midtown manhattan, but a working class place in the bronx that was hurt by it and at the same time, the emergence of a violent, small set of highly organized protesters, which we have not seen before in this city in the same way . Those things are happening that police need to be adamant about . Review whether or not it should be done the way it should be done and we will make changes going forward. Since you alluded to my words, i will say that one thing the reality over 30 years is community of color have gotten some indicators a little better, but not in real proportion to for moreh indicators advantaged communities in the city and in the nation. This is not a new york city only issue. We have a structural issue nationwide that we have to address. Crisesond thing is generate opportunity. For now, as we come out of covid19, one of the things we talk the most about at the task force is precisely why do programs of this administration has spent six years putting a lot of programs in place for communities of color so why are they not really generating the Public Health outcomes we want . Part of that is because we need to have more integrated programs that not only refer to health, but social services, housing, etc. The task force is completely zooming in on this and very committed to making sure we do , communitypproaches people, community tracers, Community Ambassadors, and really try to build out the communities much better than hopefully the way we found them before. Thank you. If you want to speak, i want to welcome you in and see if there is anything you have been wanting to say. Thank you. What i would like to say is this is a group of committed Public Servants who have been at this work for years. This moment is what we were built for. Many of the Deputy Commissioners challenge does and we are grateful for it. Community members we are speaking to have also pushed and challenged us. We are listening and i think it is important for everyone to me in today to know that we are at this and it is our lifes work and we are committed to making sure we trip we address these disparities as quickly as we can. Next, matt from newsday. Good morning. Followupking on the to the commuting issue. It is critical to accountability. First, how much overtime has the nypd spent on these programs and second, will there be any restrictions tonight at all, street closures . And protesters march all night . Since you did promise information that has gone undelivered on friday, how many have been injured . He said the information would be forthcoming later today. It is sunday and it has not been released. The pdss office says does not have consolidated stats. If the nypd does not have those stats, how did you on friday question mark friday . Mayor de blasio i think i sit only what i knew. I do not think i referred to specific stats. Whatever is there, we will get it out. I did not know something was not published. We will follow up immediately. Interestedticularly in president precise detail. Sometimes, we do not have it at the same time line that you would like it. Whenever we have, as long as you accept asterisks, we should get you whatever you have, absolutely. On anyone who was injured throughout the week, police and protesters, it is important to see both. Overtime, i do not have that figure. We will get that as soon as we have that. On the question of street closures, we are working on the issue right now, on whether manhattan, wes in may want to continue later on this evening, even if there is not a curfew, we would have that as a tool. That is something the commissioner and i talked about this morning and we will figure out in the next few hours. For tonight and tonight. Stay tuned. We will get that out shortly. On the question of people marching, will the first answer is peaceful protests will be honored by the nypd. Imve seen moments concerned about and videos im concerned about. But i have been out a very substantial number of protests myself. City officials have been almost every major protests, right in the thick of it. There have been things that have not been done as well as they should be. The reality is i saw it and i thought. The back oftests, the protesters, the front of the all of that happened. In principle, p protesters go on quite a while, as they have for nights and nights, and they do not cause violence, yes, of course they will be allowed to keep going. Youagain, the limited world speak does not always present itself in the complexities of new york city. Crowd, then the police see what is wthere is sos not safe for that content to continue. Tracking through my team and in many cases, directly last night. I was at the Lower East Side. People went on as long as they wanted to go on and people want to next we have jonathan allen. Good morning. Can you hear me . How are you . Mayor de blasio good. I may. Questions, if aboutve talked this week Police Wearing masks for public safety, their own safety. Many officers seem to continue to be disregarding you on that. Thinked to ask why you bullies are not wearing masks, why they are disregarding you on that. Evidence thats you dont have control over the department, what you might say to them. I also wanted to ask about some of the evidence commissioner, you have talked about, and regards this idea, the new element to the protests. That was a tweet from the commissioner, the councilman said was building debris. The commissioner said it was looters. Then there was the picture from a wholet which showed from the protest. I wanted to ask if you agree with the commissioner, a repair , the toolsashlight of mayhem . Mayor de blasio i am a longtime and i am not at all accustomed and i find it inappropriate and immoral for anyone to go to a protest with intention to harm another human being. It does not represent progressive values. If they are going to harm a Police Officer and want to capture it on video because that conforms to what their ideology is that i cant make sense of, you have to be real world about whats going on. I have asked the Police Department and the Deputy Commissioner to provide more information, which is very substantial and consistent, the number of officers that have been injured, the manner in which they were injured, the bricks, the stones, the Water Bottles full of cement, there is a lot going on. People who are there watching, it is evident on many videos, it doesnt get the coverage it deserves. Im the first to say, all of us who are Public Servants are held to a higher calling and we need to follow rules, follow the law, those things are true. To that doesnt make it ok throw something that could harm an officer, it just doesnt. Could a bench harm an officer if the road them . Absolutely. I dont think you would like a wrench thrown at you, nor would any human being. Have aly saying, when we specific indication that a protest bill be violent the Deputy Commissioner has not explained mount haven, i thought he did, he said he gave a press briefing yesterday, if you havent spoken to him, we will arrange that. There was a specific preannounced threat of violence and people appeared at the protest with weapons and gasoline. It is not grey. Than it is incumbent upon the police to make sure that does not proceed because we wont tolerate violence. I have talked to peoples and communities that have suffered this violence. Whether the anarchic type of violence or the more criminal kind of violence that we saw in burnside avenue. Everyday people, working people dont want that violence. They dont want outsiders ringing it into their neighborhood and they dont want people in their neighborhood doing it to their own people. This is what we had to defend against. It was a perfect storm. But in general, we Work Together and found a way to do it and the Peaceful Protesters came to the fore. There is a new element of protest and there is a new element around Property Damage and we have not seen that and we need to stop it and we have stopped it. Masks, iestion of the want to be fair, it frustrates me to no end. We have to do better in the nypd. Everyone is asked to wear a Face Covering, that includes officers. If you are trying to communicate to a crowd of people, you may have to take off your Face Covering. If you are in the middle of something where there is a legitimate tactical reason to have your Face Covering off, if you are drinking water, there are reasons. But we have seen too many officers who just have it off and it is painful because it feels like they are floundering the rules. I would say to all the officers, i know you have a hard job, but do unto others. If we are asking everyone else to follow the rules, where a Face Covering, you should do it. It is a human decency thing. I have had this conversation with the commissioner, i expect to see improvement. I know it is hot, i know officers are out all day and that is not easy. I dont like wearing the mask for long periods of time, i understand if they need relief, but too often it looks like it is being ignored and that is not acceptable. I have been working for 6. 5 years to change the nature of policing, weve got a lot more to do and we will do it red led leslie for the next year and a half. Last two questions. Good morning. As this curfew comes to an end, im wondering, how would you evaluate the effectiveness of , if youew, particularly have a, the breakdown of what the arrests were made for. Afterg versus protesting curfew and being charged with unlawful assembly, that type of charge. Also, do you agree with the judge ruling that detainees can be held longer than 24 hours, especially those two questions are kind of in the conversation of these lowlevel arrests are happening in the middle of a pandemic and transmission is worse indoors than outdoors. My second question is essentially mayor de blasio respectfully, that is a multipart question. Im sorry, thats a lot of stuff you just raised. The curfew,eness of judge ruling on detainees, safety levels of indoor detention we will stay there. On the effectiveness of the curfew, all of the fact questions, im going to say right now to my Communications Team at city hall and putting this on record, you have got to get these facts out, they are all valid questions, just get the facts out. I feel confident the strategy was the right strategy. The media and public are asking for these things to appropriately monitor what is happening and make sure it was done fairly and to judge effectiveness. I dont know why we are seeing lags your die will talk to the commissioner today. I dont know why we are seeing lags. I will talk to the commissioner today. Get these facts out today because i should not be getting these questions, they should have these facts. On the effectiveness of curfews, i believe it was effective. Theo back to the reason for curfew, it was not the protest. We went through thursday, friday, saturday. We went into sunday, all day sunday, there was nothing that would have led to a curfew. I was asked, did i want to curfew . No. To all the people asking tough questions and it is appropriate that you are asking tough questions, but please note that it is one of the only major cities in america that did not turn to the National Guard and it was my decision and i stuck to it. 9 00s where we were until p. M. Sunday. If sunday night had been a night of the same kind of protests, there would have been no curfew. Ofwas when we saw, on top the protests, which were fine, but then we saw the violence, then we saw something that was attacks on property, a substantial scale in Lower Manhattan and brooklyn, we said, this is different. Case,ext morning, in that decided on a curfew, but wanted it to be a flexible one. We made it 11 00 p. M. And we were on pleasantly surprised to see a different wave of those attacks on property, particularly what we saw in the bronx was very painful. Thats why we went to a curfew and why we moved the curfew to 8 00 p. M. And sustained it for a series of days. Every day from monday on, each day was better, the next day was better, last night, yesterday, where the best. We had the biggest number of protesters, the fee was arrests, the fewest problems. That convinced me it was time for the curfew to go away and i hope it never comes back. Effective. E it was if the question was stopping lossoflife, stopping serious injury, stopping attacks on the nationalping guard out, yes, it was an effective strategy. You deserve that breakdown on arrests and we will get that to you. Detainees, i would like to see peaceful protest. When we have peaceful protest, except for land civil disobedience, which i have been part of, that is the one time when you might see a number of arrests because People Choose to. Otherwise, you should not see so many arrests. You would normally have people in and out and i would days with state law, it can be a quick process. We had Something Different here because of the dynamic of violence as a subset of protests that changed things in the property crime changed things. Been carefully monitoring, i had my team monitor the conditions where everyone is being detained, it must be safe, there must be water, soap, distance, Face Coverings. My understanding is that has been done consistently under difficult circumstances. I have not seen the judges ruling, i cant comment. We do not want to detain people and if we do, it is for the most limited period possible and under special circumstances. Michael is that that is behind us and if there are protests today, it will be peaceful and there will be little reason to detain anyone. Last question for today. Christina from the new york post. Thank you. Thank you for taking my question. I have two questions. Theirst question is, shifting the fund from the nypd to social organizations, are you afraid of inflaming Police Unions with this shifting of funds and how will you mention how will you handle the fallout from that . ,n my second question is officers who are under investigation, who had disciplinary actions against further disciplinary action are they facing . Mayor de blasio thank you, important questions. I appreciate it. I dont think it is surprising, most new yorkers dont know how the details of the discipline process works and im not a lawyer, im not an expert in the intricacies, but i can say the broad strokes. Somethingficer does that, after an investigation, is determined to be inappropriate, the commissioners the commissioner is in position to take action. The commissioner suspended without pay two officers and sent the charges forward for future disciplinary action and transferred a superior officer and sent those charges forward. The means that now departments Judicial Branch takes over. Evaluations of whether charges should be brought that have a bigger impact, depending on the situation, it could be docking of pay, it could be Vacation Days are taken, it could be retraining, any combination all the way up to the potential of dismissal. That is not something that is done lightly. That it reaches that level and we wanted to be a rarity. But where necessary, it must happen. This is the important point. The people have to be convinced that when a Police Officer, to begin with, is not patrolling their pt effectively, they will be be trained or get more supervision, if they shouldnt be during a certain job, they will be given a different job. If they dont belong in the police force, they will be moved out. They have to understand that. We have asked people in other professions to reach a standard and if they cant reach that standard, they are removed from that job and told, this is not for you. We have done that with people in many professions. Aboute have to be clear has a riskd assessment mechanism, behave we have a way of determining whether overseers officers are showing the wrong tendencies. There have to be consequences. An officer if an officer should not be on the force, they need to be removed. That process, there is due process, i believe in due process for all people whether i agree with an individual or not, it is an american value. But people have to see that functioning and believe it. In the case to your question of the further discipline, those three officers now will face additional charges, larger charges, and grew through that and go through that process. That process will yield an outcome. Back,ficers a few weeks they are about to start that process. Suspension or modifying, when you take a gun and badge away, already temporary actions. The more permanent action is the disciplinary process and that will begin for these three officers and a number of other situations are under review for potential disciplinary actions immediately and longterm actions. We will keep making announcements, the commissioner will keep people up to date on those. , it ishe Police Unions such an important question, i will try to be brief but i want to be blunt. Unions,five Police Leaders are different, they represent different types of Police Officers. I dont want to stereotype anyone, but i will say a blunt truth. As a broad statement of fact i have been working on this for 30 years Police Unions have held back progress in new york city and new york state. That does not mean that every working man and woman doesnt have the right and shouldnt have the right to representation, they should. It doesnt mean Police Unions dont bring up valued issues, they do. But the politics, the values of too many of the police Union Leadership not everyone, but of too many have held back this city and state. Police unions fought for decades to stop the creation of the civilian Complaint Review board no matter how important that was to Building Trust and fairness, they fought it, they succeeded for decades. We were working in city hall in 1992 when there was finally the day that a civilian Complaint Review board was instituted. It took 30 years because of the power of the Police Unions. The Police Unions have fought to protect a broken law. I pray that this coming week, that law will be gone or so modified that it will reflect justice. Unions could be part of the solution, they choose not to be and this is what frustrates me. How about a Police Unions coming out after the murder of george floyd and saying, that does not represent our profession and we will make the changes we need because a bad cop does not help the good cops. You never hear that. You need to hear that. I have been fighting with the Police Unions my entire career, i have been fighting with them every step, every change we try to make, i wanted to work with them, i have been shown no cooperation, no willingness to show change and if they want to fight, we will fight. I want to be clear. We are going to make these changes, these reforms. Unfortunately, they have chosen to oppose every step of the way after we as we have tried to do good. They can keep up posing, they will not stop me and they will not stop his administration. Let me conclude. We are starting a new chapter now. It is a tough, complex, emotional week. Andpeople did not go out protest just to say they protested, then go back home and consider it a done deal. People did not protest for the sake of protesting, they protested to achieve change and we must deliver that change. You are seeing in the course of this week, the first steps of real change. You have seen the discipline process move quicker. In the last week, quicker than in recent memory. Better at theter, nypd. You are seeing announcements that reflect changes, the beginning of many changes to come. In terms of changing how we police in new york city, the relationship between police and community, how we address disparities. Anyone who says, those sound like words, dont judge people by words, judge them by deeds. In this city today, the was level of incarceration we have. Ad since world war ii the lowest levels of incarceration anywhere in the United States. We are using arrests less and less then we have used in decades. Talk to the 180,000 people who werent arrested in 2019 compared to 60 years earlier, as people who did not go through unnecessary arrests, did not go through unnecessary stops, not arrested for marijuana offenses, these changes have happened. Come. Rove that change can i understand the anger, the frustration, sometimes the sense that it is impossible to make the world better, but i say, look deeply at what has changed over 6. 5 years, and no for the next year and a half, it will change more. You will feel it. You will know it. Thats our mission. Thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] we are going to go live to a briefing with new york governor andrew cuomo. Live coverage on cspan. Gov. Cuomo we have to restore that relationship. I believe the legislative on the will help community side. The police are not going to be happy with the legislative side changes. ,he police are feeling targeted