Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2007 21:39:25 GMT -5
wcbstv.com/topstories/nypd.shooting.police.2.245161.html
NYPD Cops To Take Breathalyzer Test After Shooting
All Police-Involved Shootings Would Be Investigated; Change To Take Place In September
by Lou Young NEW YORK (CBS) ¯ A special panel appointed by Commissioner Ray Kelly to review the NYPD's undercover procedures is recommending 19 changes to police tactics, but none is more stunning than a change that will force officers to take a sobriety test following a police-involved-shooting.
According to the panel, the recommendation would "require the administration of a Breathalyzer test in all cases in which a member of the service is involved in a firearms discharge incident, on duty or off duty, which results in injury or death."
It's expected the changes will be approved, and in a way the sobriety test is the first departmental policy change to directly result from the police-involved shooting that left 23-year-old Sean Bell dead outside of a Queens nightclub on his wedding day in November.
Undercover officers who had been in the club drinking as part of their cover were among those involved in the fatal shooting of Bell, who was not armed.
Peter Vallone Jr., Chairman of the City Council's Public Safety Committee, said that implementing the Breathalyzer policy speaks well for the department's top brass.
"I think what this shows is that Ray Kelly and the NYPD do a very good job about learning from tragedies and making improvements to ensure that hopefully things like this don't happen again," he said. "This is a great improvement, this is something we've called for in the City Council -- mandatory testing if there's a shooting, a better mechanism ensuring that police do their training -- these are good things."
Police unions are stunned, however, by the recommendation. Right now officers who fire their weapons get a subjective once over from a duty lieutenant who declares them "fit for duty." Their sobriety is never tested unless questions are raised.
The new Breathalyzer policy will begin in September, according to Kelly.
The city's main police union, the Patrolman's Benevolent Association, did not comment on the changes, but it's expected that it and other unions will resist.
***
Michael Palladino, President of New York City's Detectives Endowment Association, promises to fight the policy changes in court and on the bargaining table. He says it's unfair to treat police officers like suspected drunks when they're only trying to do their jobs.
***
JIMMY SAYS: THIS POLICY STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN.
WHO IS THE BRASS TRYING TO APPEASE AT THE EXPENSE OF HARD WORKING DETECTIVES /OR OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FORCE.
NYPD Cops To Take Breathalyzer Test After Shooting
All Police-Involved Shootings Would Be Investigated; Change To Take Place In September
by Lou Young NEW YORK (CBS) ¯ A special panel appointed by Commissioner Ray Kelly to review the NYPD's undercover procedures is recommending 19 changes to police tactics, but none is more stunning than a change that will force officers to take a sobriety test following a police-involved-shooting.
According to the panel, the recommendation would "require the administration of a Breathalyzer test in all cases in which a member of the service is involved in a firearms discharge incident, on duty or off duty, which results in injury or death."
It's expected the changes will be approved, and in a way the sobriety test is the first departmental policy change to directly result from the police-involved shooting that left 23-year-old Sean Bell dead outside of a Queens nightclub on his wedding day in November.
Undercover officers who had been in the club drinking as part of their cover were among those involved in the fatal shooting of Bell, who was not armed.
Peter Vallone Jr., Chairman of the City Council's Public Safety Committee, said that implementing the Breathalyzer policy speaks well for the department's top brass.
"I think what this shows is that Ray Kelly and the NYPD do a very good job about learning from tragedies and making improvements to ensure that hopefully things like this don't happen again," he said. "This is a great improvement, this is something we've called for in the City Council -- mandatory testing if there's a shooting, a better mechanism ensuring that police do their training -- these are good things."
Police unions are stunned, however, by the recommendation. Right now officers who fire their weapons get a subjective once over from a duty lieutenant who declares them "fit for duty." Their sobriety is never tested unless questions are raised.
The new Breathalyzer policy will begin in September, according to Kelly.
The city's main police union, the Patrolman's Benevolent Association, did not comment on the changes, but it's expected that it and other unions will resist.
***
Michael Palladino, President of New York City's Detectives Endowment Association, promises to fight the policy changes in court and on the bargaining table. He says it's unfair to treat police officers like suspected drunks when they're only trying to do their jobs.
***
JIMMY SAYS: THIS POLICY STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN.
WHO IS THE BRASS TRYING TO APPEASE AT THE EXPENSE OF HARD WORKING DETECTIVES /OR OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FORCE.
