New York City mayor vows to release NYPD social distancing enforcement data

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday vowed to release NYPD social distancing enforcement data, saying “unfortunate and inappropriate” incidents had tainted “the vast number of interactions between our officers and our communities that have gone the right way.”

The mayor’s remarks come after an officer was stripped of his gun and badge when a video emerged of him pulling a stun gun on a man and then punching and slapping him on the ground. The officer had been sued for false arrest and assault in the past, according to court filings.

Police said the incident occurred in Lower Manhattan Saturday when plain-clothed officers instructed a number of people not wearing masks to disperse.

De Blasio told reporters Wednesday that he understands concerns over social distancing enforcement during the coronavirus pandemic in neighborhoods of different socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.

“The message to the NYPD is be consistent across all communities, communicate with all people. As always with neighborhood policing, help people understand that this is about their own health and safety and their family,” said de Blasio, vowing to publicly release social distancing enforcement data during the contagion.

“We’ve seen a couple of really unfortunate and inappropriate instances, but only, in my view, a small number compared to the vast number of interactions between our officers and our communities that have gone the right way, and I want to keep things in perspective,” de Blasio added.

The mayor said the city needed “to do more to create clear, simple protocols” on social distancing enforcement.

“We’re getting more and more experience with what works, what doesn’t work in terms of trying to figure out the right type of enforcement,” he said.

NYPD commish: ‘We need extra patience’

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea on Thursday acknowledged “there’s a controversy right now” as he addressed officers in a live question-and-answer session posted on Twitter.

“We have to make sure that we are impartial in how we enforce the law,” Shea told the officers. “We need extra patience. We need de-escalation more than ever.”

The commissioner urged the officers to “fall back on your training, you gotta fall back on your partner, you gotta fall back on the people in the community that are there working with us to solve these problems.”

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch earlier this week blasted the city for not backing its officers.

“This situation is untenable: the NYPD needs to get cops out of the social distancing enforcement business altogether,” Lynch said in a statement Monday.

“The cowards who run this city have given us nothing but vague guidelines and mixed messages, leaving the cops on the street corners to fend for ourselves. Nobody has a right to interfere with a police action. But now that the inevitable backlash has arrived, they are once again throwing us under the bus.”

Officer Francis X. Garcia was placed on modified duty after bystander video emerged of Saturday’s incident, police said. The Internal Affairs Bureau launched an investigation. CNN has sought comment from the officer.

Garcia had previously been named in at least seven federal and state civil suits for a variety of claims, including false arrest and assault, according to court filings.

Garcia is being represented by a PBA attorney who is not commenting on the case, according to union spokesman John Nuthall.

“This is currently an NYPD investigation, not a criminal case,” Nuthall said.

At least four of the seven lawsuits against the officer resulted in settlements, with the city paying out amounts ranging from $3,000 to $9,500. At least one case was settled out of court.

Garcia is named in at least three of the settlements, in which the defendants did not admit wrongdoing.

The video of last weekend’s incident showed a scuffle between a man and officers before the man was handcuffed while on the ground.

One officer, holding a stun gun, told people around the officers to move back. A man approached the officer, who pulled him to the ground and punched and slapped him, according to the video. Two officers moved in to assist.

Shea said some people were not wearing masks when the officers responded. Police said the group was violating social distancing rules and instructed them to disperse.

Some complied, others didn’t. One person became “aggressive towards officers and resisted arrest,” police said.

Another person tried to intervene and was arrested before a third person took a “fighting stance against the officer,” according to a police statement.

Two people seen in the first part of the video — a 31-year-old man and a 22-year old woman — were charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of disorderly conduct, police said. The man was also charged with unlawful possession of a weapon.

Another man, 33, who was seen at the end of the video, was charged with assault on a police officer, menacing, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and two counts of disorderly conduct, according to police.

Officers recovered $3,000 in cash and marijuana.