NYPD officials meet with clergy; discuss improving community relations

Clergy members gathered in Sunset Park at the Pentecostal Assembly Saturday to meet with NYPD officials about the steps being taken to better relations between officers and the community.

News 12 Staff

Sep 27, 2020, 2:50 AM

Updated 1,473 days ago

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Clergy members gathered in Sunset Park at the Pentecostal Assembly Saturday to meet with NYPD officials about the steps being taken to better relations between officers and the community.
Many of the questions asked to NYPD officials were about how officers treat communities of color in comparison to others and what they're doing to fix the problem.
"We still have to make sure that we come with the right approach to our communities and the words from our mouths are fair – that people feel like, ‘Hey, our department has respect for us,’” says Chief Jeffery Madrey.
Commissioner Dermot Shea says the “60% cut to our overtime budget” is impacting the department’s ability to fight crime.
Shea says the NYPD has taken steps to increase community relations and in order to fix these problems, there needs to be continued conversations.
"It's time that we stop arguing. It is time that we start listening," he says.