Editorial: A New Message At NYPD

Yes, NYPD Inspector General Philip Eure was indulging in hyperbole when he described the department as “living a little bit in the Dark Ages with respect to its use-of-force policies.” But in expressing his outrage at the characterization, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton was protesting a bit too much, given that he did so at a press conference where he announced a new protocol for documenting force by cops that he described as “a very, very significant change.”

There will always be tension arising from the Police Commissioner’s role as the final disciplinary authority for the department and any outside agency that could be seen as infringing upon that authority. It is why there was resistance within the NYPD to the creation of the Inspector General’s Office in 2013 when the City Council overrode Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of the measure, and the change at the top of the department from Ray Kelly—whose stop-and-frisk policy was a prime catalyst in the push for the office—to Mr. Bratton wasn’t going to alter that.