Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and the NYPD commissioner are speaking out after some recent social distancing arrests were caught on camera. 

BP Adams believes there are better ways for it to be handled. 

A video from May 3 circulated around social media shows 20-year-old Stephen Scott being punched after police say he tried to get into a police car and hit a sergeant in the arm. Community advocates are denouncing what they call excessive force. 

As a former NYPD captain, Adams is comparing the disproportionate number of arrests toward black and Latino New Yorkers to ‘stop and frisk.’

 

He says he believes community organizations should be the ones getting the word out about social distancing unless the situation becomes hostile. 

“If we do not handle this correctly we can create long-standing if not permanent disruptions between the police and the communities that they've sworn to serve and protect,” said Adams. 

Meanwhile, in a press conference with the mayor, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea agreed that many of the videos are disturbing, but claims that his officers are tasked with doing the best they can.

 "I will not stand for excessive force nor will I stand and defend indefensible actions, but I will also not have my police department called a racist police department,” said Shea. 

Adams is working with multiple organizations on this initiative, including community groups, block organizations and clergy. He hopes to get it off the ground soon.