A memorial of candles and flowers in front of the New York Police Department's (NYPD) 84th Precinct on December 21, 2014 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NYPD officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, of the 84th Precinct were killed execution style on December 20 as they sat in their marked police car on a Brooklyn street corner. The suspect, identified as 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley who allegedly shot ex-girlfriend in Baltimore earlier in the day, was apparently motivated by the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. According to police, Brinsley shot himself in the head on the subway platform and was transported to Brooklyn Hospital where he was pronounced dead. ; Credit: Michael Graae/Getty Images
The New York Police Department was dealt another blow this weekend when two uniformed officers were murdered in broad daylight on Saturday afternoon. Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot at point blank range while they sat in their patrol car in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The gunman fled to a nearby subway station, where he shot himself in the head on the platform as the door closed on a subway car full of people. NYPD Commissioner William Bratton called the shooting “an assassination.” Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the shooting digs at the heart of the city, and that investigators are still looking to see whether the shooter acted alone.
The incident has re-ignited tensions between the city of New York and its police force. Pat Lynch, who is president of New York’s police union, said that there is “blood on the hands” of not only those who incited violence under the pretense of protests, but also on the hands of City Hall.
The incident exposed and intensified anger between NY's mayor and the police department. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton says the city's tensions are the highest since the 1970s. What can civic leaders and New York residents do to effectively respond to the killings?
Guest:
Alex Silverman, reporter for WCBS 880 in New York City, has been on the ground covering the police shootings