A recent YouTube video of a mailman being abused and arrested by NYPD officers caused outrage on social media. What should have been an ordinary day of mail delivery for postman Glenn Grays turned into a nightmare. Grays was delivering mail when four NYPD officers almost hit him in an unmarked car. Instead of apologizing, they decided to arrest him because he complained. Now, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton has announced that the officers involved have been removed from their normal posts while an internal affairs investigation is underway. The four officers that arrested Grays included a NYPD police lieutenant who should have deescalated the situation.
Of particular concern to Bratton was why the officers, who should have been in uniform, where instead wearing plainclothes. Bratton stated, “For what purpose? Who authorized it? I’m very interested in the charge that was made against this individual, what [Grays] was arrested for. The validity of that, based on what I’ve witnessed on various videos that I’ve reviewed now, I have strong concerns about the charge against the individual… I’m very concerned that a U.S. postal truck was left unsecured, double-parked on a major thoroughfare in the city of New York. I’m very concerned about the performance of the officers, about the leadership role of the lieutenant involved and about the processing of the arrest at the precinct station house.”
For his part, Grays stated that the only thing that saved him was that there was a video of the incident. During a recent interview to media he stated, “I was extremely terrified. I was afraid if I didn’t comply, something was going to happen to me.” Grays was charged with disorderly conduct during the incident and still faces a court date over the encounter. Although he was mistreated, he still expressed sympathy for the officers stating ,“I don’t want them to be jobless because they might have family, kids they need to support.”
