New York City Police Commissioner Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio entered their posts and knew they would need to institute new training and practices for the city's uniformed officers. That became evident when Eric Garner died in police custody.
The NYPD will start annual training on the use of force in a new pilot program, Bratton announced during a City Council committee hearing on Sept. 8. The program will begin in November with three precincts and eventually expand to 20,000 officers who regularly work patrol.
"Our goal is ambitious because it has to be," Bratton said, according to CBS New York. "Within a few years, our expectation is that other police departments will be coming to us for guidance in best practices and we'll be the nation's model for both recruit and in-service training."
After Garner's death, ruled a homicide caused by an apparent chokehold, Bratton announced a top-to-bottom review of NYPD training and to retrain officers, especially in the use of force, according to CBS New York. He also wants to examine the number of stops, summonses and arrests.
The new program will include how to talk to the public, how to de-escalate tense situations and how to use force if necessary. Bratton believes officers need a refresher to maintain their skills and this three-day course will stress two core priorities.
"First, how to talk to an initially uncooperative person with the goal of avoiding a physical confrontation and, second, how to physically retrain a suspect who continues to resist arrest without harm to that individual or the officer," the commissioner said.
Critics and protesters outside City Hall, who demanded justice for Garner, think the problem is officers' poor judgment, not the training.
"Until this City Council addresses that issue and stops playing these games about training and retraining, which we've done for decades, we're not getting to the root of the problem," one protester told CBS New York.
