page_title: Bill de Blasio
section_title: NYPD relations
hierarchical_section_title: Bill de Blasio / Mayor of New York City (2014–present) / Tenure / NYPD relations
caption_attribution_description: English: This image is from the protests surrounding the Shooting of Michael Brown and other related events. It was taken in New York City.
context_page_description: Bill de Blasio is an American politician who has served as the 109th mayor of New York City since 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, he was New York City's public advocate from 2010 to 2013.
  De Blasio was born in a Manhattan hospital after his parents drove down from their Norwalk, Connecticut home for his birth, and was primarily raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from New York University and Columbia University before a brief stint as a campaign manager for Charles Rangel and Hillary Clinton. De Blasio started his career as an elected official on the New York City Council, representing the 39th district in Brooklyn from 2002 to 2009. After serving one term as public advocate, he was elected mayor of New York City in 2013 and reelected in 2017.
  De Blasio's policy initiatives have included new de-escalation training for officers, reduced prosecutions for cannabis possession, implementation of police body cameras, and ending the post-9/11 surveillance program of Muslim residents. In his first term, he implemented free universal Pre-K in the city.
context_section_description: During his mayoral tenure, de Blasio's relationship with the New York City Police Department has been described as "strained", "combative", and "frosty".
  Opposition to the NYPD's "stop and frisk" policy was a centerpiece of De Blasio's campaign. The practice had been challenged by civil rights groups in federal court, where it was ruled unconstitutional in 2013. The federal appeal of this decision filed by the Bloomberg administration was dropped by de Blasio upon taking office. He vowed to settle cases with claimants who had ongoing litigation against the police for stop and frisk arrests. The NYPD union appealed the decision without de Blasio's support, and was rejected.
  De Blasio selected Bill Bratton for New York City Police Commissioner, a position he had held under Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Bratton, who introduced stop and frisk under Giuliani, promised it would be used "legally, respectfully" and less frequently. Some de Blasio supporters were disappointed with Bratton's appointment.
  In February 2014, de Blasio came under criticism for calling the police shortly after one of his supporters was detained by police. Pastor Bishop Orlando Findlayter—the founder of the New Hope Christian Fellowship Church, and a friend of de Blasio—was pulled over for failing to signal on a left turn. Findlayter was then detained by police on outstanding warrants and driving with a suspended license. De Blasio is alleged to have called the police on Findlayter's behalf. Findlayter was released shortly thereafter. In a press conference, de Blasio told reporters that while he had called the police to make an inquiry regarding Findlayter's arrest he did not ask the police to release him. A spokesperson for the mayor said that de Blasio's call occurred after the police already had decided to release Findlayter. While both the police and City Hall denied that De Blasio asked for preferential treatment, City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer said De Blasio's behavior was problematic because "the mayor shouldn't be involved in any way about somebody's arrest."
  On December 3, 2014, following a grand jury decision not to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, de Blasio said in a speech that he and his African American wife, Chirlane McCray, had had many conversations with their biracial son about taking "special care in any encounters he has with the police officers who are there to protect him." De Blasio also "offered qualified support for protesters after the grand jury decision not to charge the officer involved in the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York City".
  After New York City police officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were killed in an ambush in December 2014, "cops and union leaders publicly rebuked [de Blasio], arguing [that] his earlier remarks had stoked anti-police sentiment." When de Blasio eulogized the two fallen officers, hundreds of their fellow police officers turned their backs on him.
  Following the murder of New York City police officer Miosotis Familia in July 2017, de Blasio received further criticism for not attending Familia's vigil. Many officers again turned their backs on him when he spoke at a service for Familia.
  In November 2019, de Blasio criticized former mayor Michael Bloomberg's apology for the stop and frisk policy, tweeting, "This is LONG overdue and the timing is transparent and cynical. With all due respect to my predecessor, we’ve spent six years undoing the damage he created with this bankrupt policy. We ended stop and frisk AND drove down crime. Actions speak louder than words." Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch joined the Mayor in criticizing Bloomberg's apology as well.
caption: New Yorkers demonstrating against police brutality at Pace University in November 2014
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