http://nypost.com/2016/02/12/liang-verdict-will-have-chilling-effect-on-policing-union-head/
Police unions blasted the guilty verdict against Officer Peter Liang Thursday, claiming it will hinder the efforts of cops who risk their lives while trying to prevent bloodshed.
“We are very disappointed in the verdict and believe that the jury came to an absolutely wrong decision,” said Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. “This bad verdict will have a chilling effect on police officers across the city because it criminalizes a tragic accident.”
The president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, Ed Mullins, went so far as to call for the city to end vertical patrols in public housing, a policy Liang was carrying out when he fatally shot Akai Gurley in a stairwell in November 2014.
“Commissioner [Bill] Bratton, who so often brags of the evolution of policing, now needs to suspend the efforts of vertical patrol and re-evaluate his policy,” Mullins said.
Two cops were shot in a stairwell while conducting a vertical patrol in The Bronx last week.