Police shootings and New York: lessons learned

In New York, at a press conference with community leaders this week, Mayor Bloomberg remarked several times that no one was more "disturbed" than he and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly by last Saturday's shooting. Mr. Bell and two friends were leaving a strip joint after a bachelor party when an undercover officer, who was part of a larger operation at the club, thought he heard one of Bell's group say, "Yo, go get my gun." When the officer approached the car, an altercation erupted and police started firing. It's unclear whether the officer identified himself as a policeman or what prompted the gunfire that killed Bell and wounded two others, one critically.

"To me, it is unacceptable and inexplicable how you have 50-odd shots fired, but that's for the investigation to find out what happened," says Bloomberg. "We will tell everyone everything we know when we know, and we will not speculate."

Bloomberg also said he did not believe the shooting was racially motivated. Two of the shooting victims were black, and one was Hispanic. Two of the officers involved were black, two were white, and one was Hispanic. All five have been suspended.

"This is a much better response than the Giuliani administration [to the Diallo shooting], much more open and much more direct," says City Councilman Leroy Comrie of Queens. "A lot of people in this city are uncomfortable with the police department and its tone on the streets, but so far I'm satisfied [that] the mayor and the police commissioner have done their utmost to provide as much detail as possible."

Most political analysts are applauding the city's response so far, but some say it's unfair to compare the way Mr. Giuliani and Bloomberg handled the two shootings. Giuliani, who defeated the city's first African-American mayor, had strained relations with the minority community from the start. In reforming the city's finances, he also took on its various interest groups, including those in the black community, according to political analyst Fred Siegel, author of "The Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York and the Genius of American Life." Finally, the Diallo incident occurred at a time when the mayor's personal and marital problems had become regular public fodder.

"The Diallo affair comes at the beginning of Giuliani's personal meltdown," says Mr. Siegel. "This isn't a criticism of Bloomberg. I just don't think it's a fair comparison."

Other analysts say the city is also different as a result of 9/11 and the work Bloomberg has done in repairing relations with the black and Hispanic communities. He's worked to keep lines of communication open on a regular basis.

"You can't just have people talking to each other at a time of crisis. There has to be a foundation for communication. Otherwise, you're just managing the consequences of the crisis," says Mr. Riley of RAND.

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