New York City’s police union warned that the current policy of officers enforcing social distancing is “untenable” and that the New York Police Department should be focused on stopping crime.
Patrick Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, said in a Monday statement that the city must revise its policies during the coronavirus pandemic.
“This situation is untenable: The NYPD needs to get cops out of the social distancing enforcement business altogether,” Lynch said. He took a jab at “the cowards” who run New York City and said city leadership has “given us nothing but vague guidelines and mixed messages, leaving the cops on the street corners to fend for themselves.”
“As the weather heats up and the pandemic continues to unravel our social fabric, police officers should be allowed to focus on our core public safety mission,” Lynch added. “If we don’t, the city will fall apart before our eyes.”
.@NYCPBA calls for end of @NYPDnews policing of social distancing: “As the weather heats up & the pandemic continues to unravel our social fabric, police officers should be allowed to focus on our core public safety mission. If we don’t, the city will fall apart before our eyes.” pic.twitter.com/YPYZUh4TG2
— NYC PBA (@NYCPBA) May 4, 2020
As the weather became more pleasant over the weekend, about 1,000 officers were dispatched to public areas in order to enforce the city’s social distancing regulations.
“The public should expect to see social distancing patrol officers on foot, on bikes, and in vehicles ensuring that social distancing procedures are followed,” said NYPD spokeswoman Sgt. Jessica McRorie.
In New York City, there have been almost 177,000 cases of the coronavirus and more than 19,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
