Kerik: Anti-Police 'Racism' Claims Hurting Society

(Carlo Allegri/Reuters/Landov)

By    |   Sunday, 04 January 2015 10:10 AM EST ET

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik says it is "bizarre" for people to say all police officers are racist, and says claims by people such as the Rev. Al Sharpton are hurting society.

Appearing Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," Kerik defended his statement in a Time magazine article saying that labeling all cops as racists "has the potential to rip America at its seams and cause damage far worse than any attack on our country, including that on 9/11/2001."

Kerik pointed out that there are 700,000 police officers in the country, plus federal law enforcement. Recent protests have focused on the deaths of two unarmed black men, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island.

Both were killed by white police officers, leading to the accusations of racism, but Kerik said there is "absolutely not one shred of evidence that those two events were based on race.

"Is there racism in this country? Yes. But to label the entire police department and every cop, local, state and federal, in this country as a racist is bizarre," he said.

Kerik pointed to an 85 percent reduction in homicides in New York City, primarily in black community, since former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani began a get-tough policy on crime in 1994. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg continued that policy until leaving office at the end of 2013.

Kerik said he doesn't agree there is "a long way to go" toward stamping out racism in America.

"I personally, I don't see it," he said.

The funeral for the second of two police officers killed in the line of duty by a man saying he was exacting revenge on cops for Brown and Garner's deaths was scheduled to be held Sunday, and Kerik said he opposed police officers using Officer Wenjian Liu's funeral to protest Mayor Bill de Blasio. He said he opposed them previously turning their backs as de Blasio spoke at the funeral of Officer Rafael Ramos.

"This is about the family," Kerik said.

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Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik says it is bizarre for people to say all police officers are racist, and says claims by people such as the Rev. Al Sharpton are hurting society. Appearing Sunday on CNN's State of the Union, Kerik defended his...
bernard kerik, racism, police, sharpton
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2015-10-04
Sunday, 04 January 2015 10:10 AM
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