Watch CBS News

NYPD's Bratton: Country And Police Profession 'Are In Perilous Times'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The deadly attack on Baton Rouge police officers sent ripple effects to New York City's police department.

The NYPD released a memo Sunday telling all officers to be on high alert about the public's, and their own, behavior.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton told "CBS Evening News" that American policing is in "uncharted waters."

"I think it's quite clear we are in perilous times, the country and the police profession. And the dual obligation of the police to certainly protect the public, while at the same time trying to protect themselves, that we're in uncharted waters here at this particular point in time in American policing," Bratton said. "That we have the new threats of terrorism, we have the assassination issues, we have always the concern about crime, so policing in America is getting a lot more difficult. Fortunately, American policing has stood up to these challenges in the past and we'll work very hard to stand up to them again."

Bratton added that police face a lack of trust from minority communities.

"It's quite clear that in a lot of our communities – particularly in minority communities – there is not trust in American policing, there is not trust in American government for that matter, and we need to find ways to see each other, to hear each other, and to find common ground."

Increased police presence can still be seen all around the city.

Officers have been ordered to patrol in pairs since the Dallas shooting.

Three Baton Rouge officers were killed, and three others wounded, Sunday morning. CBS News identified the gunman as Gavin Eugene Long, a 29-year-old black man who was honorably discharged from the Marines in 2010.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.