He's actually not that bad looking...
Posted on 09/10/2015 1:01:29 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Thursday that he intends to apologize to former tennis player James Blake, who he said was "inappropriately" put under arrest outside a midtown hotel after fitting a description of a subject in an investigation.
Blake, who is black, is in New York for the U.S. Open in Queens. He was standing outside the Grad Hyatt hotel around noon on Wednesday when he was incorrectly identified by two witnesses as being part of an Internet identity theft scheme.
Bratton called the incident a "fast approach" encounter -- where police grab a suspect by the arm, take him down to the ground and handcuff him. Police have determined that Blake, who was in handcuffs for five to 10 minutes, had no involvement in the criminal investigation.
Bratton, who learned about the incident Wednesday evening on his way to film NY1's "Inside City Hall," said both he and Mayor Bill de Blasio reached out to Blake to apologize and to learn what occurred during the incident.
Blake, 35, summed up the encounter to The New York Daily News "as simple as unnecessary police force, no matter what my race is."
Bratton said he watched a video of the incident. He said he supports the decision to put the unidentified officer on modified assignment during the course of the internal affairs investigation. The officer will have to turn over his badge and gun.
Part of the investigation will focus on the use of force employed during the incident and when exactly the undercover officer identified himself during the takedown. The officer has not been interviewed by police, which is common during these investigations.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Apology ?
Why ?
Does Bratton ever apologize for the racial killings committed by blacks spurred on by his boss, DeBlowhard?
Seems to me the “two witnesses” are at fault...
The police were acting on their information...
As for the close take down maneuver...
Who wants two policeman chasing after a perp on a busy NY street?
“Apology ?
Why ?”
Athlete’s privilege.
Perhaps because one of his subordinates assaulted the man?
Race did play a role in how he was arrested. Just like a white guy with a bunch of biker tattoos would have a bunch of cops show up to arrest the person matching the description. BIAS did play a role though. But then with the war on cops...they can’t be too careful.
This is a tough one. Police need to root out the bad cops and Black people need to root out the thugs.
Black in public.. Kind of like jaywalking these days in NYC.
What happen to no frisk?
I’d be guilty of tourist in alcohol induced shock if I went there.
If it was a mistake and the culprits looked like Blake I don’t think there is an issue.
But Blake is a known hot head and he probably would not be the most understanding type on this.
The old “they all look alike” excuse, eh Chief?
I can relate to being mistaken for a criminal (I think)
I was 17 years old and driving home at about 11:00 PM on a Saturday night in my parents full sized Ford window van. I got pulled over. I wasn’t speeding and was not inhibited by drugs or alcohol. I cooperated fully starting with the order from the PA to turn off the van and put my hands outside the window. I then waited for about 5 to 7 minutes until at least one other police car pulled up. Then an officer approached the window. All the spot lights were on aimed at mirrors so I couldn’t see anything that was going on. He asked for license and registration. I gave it to him and politely asked why I had been stopped. He simply said “keep your hands outside of the window and don’t move.” I painfully sat that way for an additional 30 minutes. I think more police cars pulled up at some point but couldn’t see very clearly. Finally, the same officer returned, gave me my stuff back and told me to have a nice night. I asked again why I had been stopped. He told me to “just be on your way”. As I drove away, I went from scared to angry. I assume they had a description of a similar van and/or perp and went to get a witness to make an ID or something. But why couldn’t he just tell me that? When I left the scene, it was 11:47PM.
I didn’t get an apology either. lol
Really? I've met him. He seems nice. In the over 20 years of teaching tennis and meeting players and working at events I've never heard this. Can you provide specifics?
RE: says race played no role in arrest
This is one of the biggest BALONEY I’ve ever heard.
If witnesses say that the perp is black and of a certain height, of course the cops are going to look for someone who fits that description.
Well in my 42 years around the tennis block I have.
McEnroe was a hot head as well you know. Doesn’t always need to be a character flaw. It gives him his tenacity, but I can see him not be so understanding of being mistaken for someone else by witnesses.
Why?
Because the cops who work for him made a huge mistake, that’s why. Sometimes, in a civilized society, people apologize for mistakes.
Not to mention the fact that in addition to making a huge mistake, the arresting officer acted like a complete fascist thug asshole dickhead, and thus far Mr. Blake has been a completely reasonable gentleman about the whole incident.
Except Blake has been incredibly understanding about the incident - more understanding than I would be.
If you look like James Blake, better stay out of NY.
Because some people might run, from now on whenever police approach a suspect, they have to tackle them down to the ground and handcuff them before talking to them first? That's not a society I want to live in. How about get the officers in shape, approach warily, and surround the guy with 2 or 3 officers? Which is how many they used on this guy to take him down. If one gets away ever so often, well, tough. Hire younger, faster cops.
I don’t think that he looks black.
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