Gov. Andrew Cuomo is urging calm through the upcoming holidays and respecting families' grief in response to the weekend killings of two New York City police officers and the July death of a Staten Island man in a confrontation with police.
The governor tells WNYC Radio Monday that people are angry on both sides, and it's time to lower the rhetoric, followed by "rational, sober conversation" later to consider "systemic reform."
Cuomo says Mayor Bill de Blasio, police union leaders and community activists all have his full support, and he's not placing blame.
According to the governor, questions include benefits for police widows and children, why police cars lack bulletproof glass and reform of the grand jury system that declined to indict a police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner last summer.
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