Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton: on Crime
Hillary Clinton:
2000: NYPD needs higher pay and better minority relations
A March 2000 fatal police shooting in NYC of a black man named Patrick Dorismond underscored the Mayor's political vulnerabilities. Giuliani's handling of this tragic case inflamed old hostilities between his office and the city's minority populations.
Police officers, in turn, were legitimately frustrated that they were being misunderstood while trying to do their jobs effectively because of a city leadership at war with the communities they were trying to protect. When Giuliani released Dorismond's
sealed juvenile records, casting aspersions on a man who was dead, he merely drove the wedge deeper.The more Giuliani continued with his divisive rhetoric, the more determined I was to offer a different approach. I laid out a plan for improving
relations between the police & minorities, including better recruitment, training and compensation for the NYPD. Giuliani's handling of the Dorismond case was wrong. Instead of easing the tensions and uniting the city, he had poured salt into the wound.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p.514
Nov 1, 2003
Rudy Giuliani:
OpEd: Mishandling of Dorismond shooting exacerbated tensions
A March 2000 fatal police shooting in NYC of a black man named Patrick Dorismond underscored the Mayor's political vulnerabilities. Giuliani's handling of this tragic case inflamed old hostilities between his office and the city's minority populations.
In this situation, the Mayor exacerbated a crisis when a calm and reassuring tone was needed. Citizens in many neighborhoods, especially minority ones, felt that the police under the Mayor's leadership could not be trusted. Their wariness was fed by
well-known cases like the shooting of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx the year before. When Giuliani released Dorismond's sealed juvenile records, casting aspersions on a man who was dead, he merely drove the wedge deeper and intensified the distrust.
Giuliani's handling of the Dorismond case was wrong. Instead of easing the tensions and uniting the city, he had poured salt into the wound. "New York has a real problem, and we all know it," I said. "All of us, it seems except for the Mayor."
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p.514
Nov 1, 2003
Page last updated: Feb 14, 2019