The commander of a police precinct in New York City will resign this week, citing a lack of guidance from superior officers on recent reforms led by the city.
Deputy Inspector Richard Brea, a nearly 30-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, will quit the force, Guardian Angels leader Curtis Sliwa confirmed to the New York Post.
“How am I supposed to lead?” Brea said, as recalled by Sliwa. “I’m doing this, and others may be following in my footsteps.”
As calls for sweeping police reform have reverberated across the nation, Mayor Bill de Blasio has sought aggressive changes to law enforcement practices in the nation’s largest city.
Changes the mayor has instituted include the creation of a database that will track the more than 1,000 pending cases involving allegations of police abuse. The city will also publish all internal trial decisions and make that information available on the internet.
The department additionally disbanded its undercover anti-crime unit, reassigning 600 officers.
“I’m listening. I’m acting,” de Blasio said last week. “I feel what people are saying. Things have to change, they are changing, and they will change more.”
Police unions in New York City have pushed back on the changes, saying they go too far and will deeply hurt morale within the force.
Two fliers were reportedly being circulated among department officers, encouraging them to call out sick on July 4 as part of a “blue flu” movement to show displeasure with department leadership and the city.
