Police Commission William Bratton promised Wednesday at a pre-Ramadan conference at NYPD headquarters in Manhattan to protect the rights of the city’s Muslims.
“You have my pledge as commissioner we will not to jeopardize that trust that all our efforts are geared toward increasing,” Bratton said to dozens of Muslim leaders at 1 Police Plaza. “You also have my pledge that we will continue to ensure policing is lawful, constitutional, effective and respectful.”
The holiday conference has become an annual event but marked a first for Bratton, who’s been top cop for six months. His predecessor, Raymond Kelly, came under scrutiny for surveilling Muslim communities.
Bratton touted that the department now boasts 1,000 NYPD employees — cops and citizens — who identify themselves as Muslim. A video showcasing the Muslim employees was presented to the crowd of about 150 police officers and community members.
But old problems die hard.
During a brief question and answer session, one Muslim leader pleaded with Bratton to go to the leaders when there are problems rather than using spies.
“We don’t need informants,” Adebola Sanusi, deputy Imam from Masjid Rahmatillah in Staten Island, said. “Come to us.”
Bratton, who scrapped a plan to create a detailed map of the Los Angeles Muslim community when he was that city’s top cop, assured the audience that police were interested in working with the leaders.
Bratton also discussed security during the month-long Ramadan holiday that begins June 28, saying that the department would add more foot patrols and cars to certain areas around mosques.
He explained that the NYPD would be distributing a detailed guide to help officers understand Ramadan and the pillars of Islam.
Bratton also urged the leaders to get involved with fighting extremism.
“Together, we the police and the community, we must figure out a way to get between the youth and the lethal message emanating from the extremists,” he said. “The goal of the police department is to protect lives and to not intrude on them to any degree unnecessary.”