NYPD Commissioner Bratton Warns Cops Not To Turn Their Backs On Mayor At Funeral

NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has warned police officers not to turn their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio at Officer Wenjian Liu’s upcoming funeral.

Liu was a policeman who was gunned down along with fellow police officer Rafael Ramos in December. The two were killed by a man who posted online threats against the police.

The funeral for Ramos has already been held. During that ceremony, Mayor de Blasio delivered a speech while members of the police department who were in attendance turned their backs on him.

Relations between the mayor and the police department have been tense since de Blasio publicly stated that he had to tell his son to be extra careful around police officers because of his mixed race background. Many members of the police force viewed that statement as an unfair stereotype against law enforcement.

In spite of those strained relations, Bratton has made it clear that he doesn’t want a repeat performance of police officers turning their backs on the mayor.

“A hero’s funeral is about grieving, not grievance,” he wrote in a memo that is being read at precinct roll calls.

However, Bratton has made it clear that he won’t punish officers who choose to ignore his request.

“I issue no mandates and I make no threats of discipline,” he said. “But I remind you that when you don the uniform of this department, you are bound by the tradition, honor, and decency that go with it.”

Bratton also verbally chastised members of the force who turned their backs on the mayor at Ramos’ funeral.

“The country’s consciousness of that funeral has focused on an act of disrespect shown by a fraction of those…officers,” he said. “All officers were painted by it, and it stole the valor, honor, and attention that rightfully belonged to the memory of detective Rafael Ramos’s life and service. That was not the intent, I know. But it was the result.”

Some police officers view the memo as an olive branch to the mayor’s office.

“Obviously he’s doing this to help his boss, de Blasio. He’s taking his side. He’s trying to protect him and not make him look bad,” a police source said.

Officer Liu’s funeral service will be held on Sunday.

[Image credit: Wikipedia]

NYPD Commissioner Bratton Warns Cops Not To Turn Their Backs On Mayor At Funeral