Attn:

NYPD Commissioner William J Bratton:

My name is Darrell Prince, born in Newark, NJ in 1976. My file here probably has a
clearer view of my time in NYC than my memory, so we will suffice with that.
The enclosed documents are part of a case at the 3 rd District Court of Appeals in
Philadelphia, and involve sweeping realignments of police procedures and
processes, as well as the Justice system as a whole, and have been delivered in a
similar fashion to 2nd District, at attention to the Attorney General.
This petition, addressing core Federal law as it does, supersedes local conventions
and rules lower than the 1st amendments petition for redress of grievances
restrictions and requires the attention and consideration of all whose job function
includes law.
It speaks for itself. I send it to you in the spirit of beginning an earnest conversation
on how to clean up messy confrontations between police and the people. I would be
honored to have your commentary.
I would like to address two other concerns:

1. Health benefits for 9/11 responders.

It boggles my mind that the City of New York, under Rudy G, sent officers and
firefighters into harms way who are now suffering health wise, and have to
fight for their healthcare. I believe this to be labor violations worth big bucks
if the City of New York were a corporation, which of course it is, in addition to
a city government. I do not know what levers would have to be pulled to
address this, but I would ask you to use your not inconsiderable weight to
publicly address and solve this. I would not presume to suggest methods,
anymore than I would suggest handcuff brands.
2. Vision for future policing
I for one, would like to see NYPD more involved in business regulation
enforcement. I believe that in addition to generating billions in revenue for
the city, on things like building code- badly enforced here in New York, and
consumer protections, many of which will vibe well with the environmental
aspects of broken windows policing- some of the people become more
inclined to crime because their housing is poor. An example might be that
light out in NYCs Pink Houses, NYCHAs responsibility, certainly contributed
measurably to the loss of Akai Gurleys life, a tragedy.
Many city agencies are out of compliance with the law, and it is very difficult,
from a citizens perspective to work with these agencies bureaucracy to re
align with legal responsibilities, because they are too used to illegal habits,
taught by predecessors.

Another example might be the citys labor laws, I realize, currently far outside
NYPDs jurisdiction, but often contribute to the economic conditions that
create the discomfort, and situations that cause crime.
3.

Employee retention rate

Policing is stressful work lots of paperwork, long hours, and intense
situations. It is impossible to fathom that there would not be a good amount
of turnover in the job. While management certainly must take responsibility
for the actions of the rank and file; it must be continually looking to make
sure that it is only the best and brightest, and currently best suited to doing
an important and difficult job. That said as positively as I can, I do believe
there are dismissals in order for some folks who have demonstrated that they
will often push things to where they do not need to be. In my 7 years of living
on and off in the New York area, I have seen many unprofessional behaviors
by police, and less than stellar de escalation skills on the part of some.
Unless there is some amazing circumstances, I would say that the dismissal
of Richard Haste in the Bronx, and Officer Pantaleo in Staten Island is
warranted. In many positions, people who make bad mistakes get fired, and
these people were not responsible for human lives and instead took them.
Responsibility through patterns and practices is always difficult, but most
officers manage to stay outside those situations everyday, and in this case
created the kinds of situations they are supposed to get rid of.

Thank you for your time and attention, and I look forward to a written reply, and a
future conversation

Sincerely,

Darrell Prince
dprince@thcallforunity.org
8/19/16