New York police commissioner William Bratton criticises use of force in arrest of black tennis star James Blake
No report had been made of the arrest and detention, which became public after the former player reported it to media, while officer who tackled the 35-year-old is on desk duty
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said on Thursday he was concerned over the level of force used in the arrest of retired US tennis star James Blake, who was mistakenly identified as a suspect in a fraud ring.
Blake told local media that plain-clothes officers surrounded him outside hotel in a Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday and slammed him to the ground before handcuffing him for 15 minutes.
Blake, at one time ranked fourth in the world, said he had been waiting for a car to take him to the US Open when he was detained by the officers, who were white.
Police said Blake, who is black, had been mistakenly identified by a cooperating witness as a suspect in a fraud ring. The officer who tackled Blake had been put on desk duty, Bratton said, adding he had reviewed video of the incident.
“Concerns I have about what I witnessed on the video .... [include] the inappropriateness about the amount of force that was used during the arrest,” Bratton said.
Bratton said he was also concerned that no report had been made of Blake’s arrest and detention, which became public after the former player reported it to the New York Daily News. He said police wanted to talk to Blake to hear his version of events.
The incident involving a well-known former US player at a time when many in the city have their attention on the US Open being played at Flushing Meadows, revived questions over excessive police force that reverberated around the country after a series of police killings of unarmed black men.
Concerns I have about what I witnessed on the video .... [include] the inappropriateness about the amount of force that was used during the arrest
“I’d like an apology. I’d like an explanation for how they conducted themselves because I think we all need to be held accountable for our actions, and police as well,” Blake told ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday.
He added that he had cooperated throughout the incident with the officers, who did not immediately identify themselves as law enforcement.
“The first words out of my mouth were, ‘I’m going to 100 per cent cooperate. I don’t want any incident or whatever,’ just out of reaction from what I’ve seen in the media,’” he said.
