Bill de Blasio Breaks With Al Sharpton Over Police Retraining

Ross Barkan

When it comes to police training, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Rev. Al Sharpton are on very different pages.

The mayor broke with the reverend today over the value of retraining officers to address tension between police and minority communities, arguing it’s essential to the solution of easing that tension. Mr. Sharpton, at a round table hosted by the mayor yesterday, was deeply skeptical of that plan.

“On the question of the criticism, I have to say I disagree with Rev. Sharpton … the training is quintessential to change. Now I understand that people hear the word training, they may think it’s superficial or temporary,” Mr. de Blasio declared at an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn.

“Bill Bratton doesn’t do things in a small way or inconsequential way. Bill Bratton is one of the greatest police reformers and architects of effective policing in the history of this country,” Mr. de Blasio said, reiterating remarks he made yesterday. “He’s saying we’re going to systematically retrain the police department to make sure people understand how to best work with communities and to be effective.”

Read more at http://observer.com/2014/08/bill-de-blasio-breaks-with-al-sharpton-over-police-retraining/#ixzz39AK4faHD