NYPD Commissioner William Bratton urges officers not to turn backs on Mayor de Blasio at Officer Wenjian Liu's funeral
Bratton said those who turned their backs at de Blasio at the funeral last week 'stole the valor, honor and attention' that Officer Ramos deserved. The union that represents the NYPD's captains encouraged their members to turn their backs again, however.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, January 2, 2015, 3:46 PM
- A
- A
- A
BARRY WILLIAMS/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWSNYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton urged his officers on Friday to show respect for fallen Officer Wenjian Liu at his funeral on Sunday, rather than turn their backs as some did during de Blasio's eulogy at the funeral for Officer Rafael Ramos.
NYPD Commissioner William Bratton wants his officers to show respect, rather than their backs, at the Sunday funeral for assassinated colleague Officer Wenjian Liu.
Bratton, in an internal message distributed Friday to citywide commands, urged the rank and file not to repeat last week’s show of disdain for Mayor de Blasio during the service for slain cop Rafael Ramos.
“A hero’s funeral is about grieving, not grievance,” the pointed four-paragraph Bratton missive began.
The commissioner specifically said he wasn’t threatening anyone with discipline or issuing a mandate on appropriate funeral etiquette.
But Bratton made it clear that he expected no repeat performance: “I remind you that when you don the uniform of the Department, you are bound by the tradition, honor and decency that go with it.”
DEBBIE EGAN-CHINPolice Commissioner Bratton said that the display some officers did at the funeral for Officer Rafael Ramos 'stole the valor, honor and attention' that Ramos deserved.
Bratton praised most in the estimated crowd of 25,000 fellow officers from around the country at last Saturday’s Ramos farewell.
The decision by hundreds of cops to turn their backs as the mayor spoke overshadowed the day’s good will toward a fallen colleague and his mourning family, the commissioner said.
“The country’s consciousness of that funeral has focused on an act of disrespect shown by a fraction of those ... officers,” Bratton wrote.
“It stole the valor, honor and attention that rightfully belonged to the memory of Detective Rafael Ramos’ life and sacrifice. That was not the intent, I know. But it was the result.”
SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS'A hero’s funeral is about grieving, not grievance,' NYPD Commissioner William Bratton told his officers in a message distributed Friday. The union for the NYPD's captains does not share the same sentiment, however, encouraging their members to turn their backs on de Blasio.
The union representing the NYPD’s captains has already encouraged its members to eschew turning their backs on de Blasio in favor of “cold, steely silence.”
The Detectives Endowment Association said it would not issue any directive to its members on how to behave at the funeral. Liu and Ramos were killed in a Dec. 20 ambush by a cop-hating gunman.
“Cops have feelings too and are entitled to express them thanks to the same First Amendment right exercised by the protesters,” said DEA head Mike Palladino.
