NYPD Commissioner William Bratton reacted with outrage over a $5,000 settlement the city made with a machete-wielding thug who menaced cops.
A front-page New York Post story revealed that the city settled with 24-year-old Ruhim Ullah, who was shot in the leg while wielding the 18-inch blade.
“I was sitting in the car with my wife. We were on our way to this event,” Bratton said after a morning speech at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
“And I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it (The Post’s story), and she sat beside me and looked over and said, ‘What is that?’ and she took the paper away from me.”
Ullah pleaded guilty in 2010 to the dangerous confrontation — and even his lawyer admitted the shooting was likely justified — but still filed a $3 million lawsuit against the city.
Bratton said he’ll meet with Mayor Bill de Blasio to discuss the issue Thursday.
“I’ll be meeting the mayor this afternoon,” he said. “It’s outrageous.”
Bratton referenced The Post story during his address to the police foundation.
“Our officers did absolutely nothing wrong and it’s outrageous that, if that story, as written, is accurate, the city law department is continuing to not support the men and women of this department as they go about their duties and do those duties,” Bratton said.
After the speech, Bratton reiterated to reporters that settlements of frivolous lawsuits against cops hurt the morale of officers on the street.
“Our cops work very hard trying to keep this city safe and if they’re not going to be backed up by the city law office, we need to do something about that,” Bratton said.
New York’s top cop said he’s been fighting these kinds of settlements going back to his stint as commissioner under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
“It’s a longstanding issue. I can remember going back to my time in ’94, the same issue,” he said.
“I believe there’s a willingness to more aggressively defend these cases and I certainly hope that’s the case because our cops deserve better. They really do.”
Going to bat for his boss, Bratton said he believes de Blasio is also troubled by these kinds of payouts.
“And I believe the mayor feels the same way also,” Bratton said. “We’ve had discussions around this issue. I believe he’s very supportive of it also, changing th
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment