New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea has defended the actions of police officers who drove into a crowd of protesters last month. Commissioner Shea defended the actions of the officers by and noted that they complied with the department’s standards.
On Monday, Commissioner Shea participated in a virtual hearing about the NYPD’s handling of recent protests. During the hearing, New York Attorney General Letitia James asked him directly about the incident.
“Was that in violation of your use of force policy?” James asked.
“No,” She answered.
“Our internal affairs bureau investigated this information and preliminarily we have an accounting of that incident where we have officers in a situation where they’re essentially being penned in by protesters,” he continued.
As the virtual hearing, James continued to question Shea about the matter. At which point, Shea stated the officers were “attacked” at the time of the incident.
“So in that particular instance, is it your testimony that the police car was an appropriate use of force?” James asked.
“I’m not saying that the police car was used as a use of force,” Shea replied.
“The officers were set upon and attacked, and thankfully they were able to get out of that situation with, to my knowledge, no injuries to anyone,” Shea said.
The incident in question is still under question about New York Attorney General James and her team.
