NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — NYPD brass are getting ready for possible widescale protests once the Derek Chauvin trial wraps up in Minneapolis, but advocates hope officers have learned some lessons from last year's demonstrations that came after George Floyd's death.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea is keeping a close eye on the trial.
"We're hoping for calm and peace," Shea said. "We are going to be mobilizing to have at the ready, we've already been drilling large numbers of police officers."
"If there is a situation where there is going to be protests or things of that nature that we all agree that we just want to do it calmly and peacefully with no injuries, no property damage," Shea added.
The commissioner told NY1 on Wednesday that the NYPD has been in contact with officials in Minneapolis and expects the possibility of some protests across the five boroughs.
"Certainly a lot is going to have to do with the outcome, but we've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes with everyone from grassroots organizations, elected officials, clergy and making sure that whatever happens we do it peacefully, we do it without violence here. I'm confident that's what's going to happen," Shea said.
Chris Dunn, with the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the next few weeks will be an important test for the NYPD.
"It's a little bit alarming when they talk about drilling officers, we need to be de-escalating, we need to have a totally different approach to the protests," Dunn said. "We are very concerned that the police have not adequately embraced the lessons of the disasters from last year."
Dunn said whether things stay calm or not will mostly be up to the NYPD.
"The police should supporting the First Amendment, not suppressing it," Dunn said.
The department's handling of protests last year resulted in a lawsuit from the state attorney general following what she called a pattern of excessive, brutal and unlawful force against peaceful protesters, an apology from Mayor Bill de Blasio and nearly 300 formal complaints to the NYPD's oversight body.
Chauvin, a former police officer, is on trial on charges of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death last May after his arrest of suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 at a neighborhood market.
The defense began presenting its case on Tuesday after the prosecution rested following 11 days of testimony and a mountain of video evidence.
The defense is building a case around the theory that Floyd's death was because of drugs and pre-existing heart conditions.
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