Speaking on behalf of the presidents of the five police unions, PBA president Patrick J. Lynch said:
“Today we had a meeting with the Police Commissioner and we had a frank discussion and we brought up our concerns about the safety of our members — the police officers, detectives and supervisors on the street — and the safety of the public.
We start by thanking the public for the support they’ve given us throughout this time.
But the problem was not created here at headquarters, it started at City Hall. We don’t believe that there is a willingness on the part of City Hall to solve these problems.
So we as union leaders will take the time to sit down and discuss these issues and come up with solutions to them. We wish that City Hall would have the willingness to fix these problems.
Our concern is our members’ safety and the safety of the public we serve.
We saw last night our police officers who could’ve went home, who could’ve closed their lockers at the end of their tour and ignore the radio…they did not.
They ran out and they tried to stop a robbery and they got shot for it. We want the public to also understand that arrest for felonies are up, our members are doing their job.
The other solutions will come from the leaders who are here…we wish there was a leader in City Hall.”
