Columbia University’s decision not to bring the New York Police Department in again as protesters remain encamped on the school’s campus, saying officers there would be “counterproductive,” used the “wrong words” to describe the situation, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell told Newsmax on Sunday.
“It’s their decision, it’s their property, but counterproductive and inflaming, I think, are the wrong words,” Chell said on Newsmax’s “Sunday Report.” “Thursday, we were flawless in our execution of taking the students off the campus with no issues, and it wouldn’t be counterproductive. It’s productive to make all the students feel safe.”
Still, he said that the “very smart people” leading Columbia are “having a hard time making a decision as to what they want to do.”
In an email to the community, University President Minouche Shafik and other officials said that they believe, “based on discussions within our community and with outside experts, that to bring back the NYPD at this time would be counterproductive, further inflaming what is happening on campus, and drawing thousands to our doorstep who would threaten our community,” reports the Columbia Spectator.
Chell said the NYPD is not part of the negotiations on the protests and is taking Columbia at its word that it’s making progress.
Further, he said the department has a city of 8 million people to handle, so officers can’t be at Columbia all day.
“They have to make a decision on what they want to do,” said Chell. “When they want something done, put it in writing to us, and we’ll come take care of business, but until that time, we’re in standby mode.”
He added that the department’s intelligence bureau is monitoring the situation around the clock, so it knows what’s happening, but still, “it’s incumbent upon them to put in writing what they want, and we can take care of it rather quickly… we’re on standby, ready to go if you need us, but we have other things to do in the city.”
Chell did agree with Mayor Eric Adams’ belief that outside agitators are behind the protests.
“There are outside agitators on that campus,” he said. “There were outside agitators at NYU and the City College.”
There has been some talk that the protesters won’t be punished under New York’s current system, but Chell pointed out that for Columbia students, the punishment will come from within.
“Protesting is good when you do it the right way and you voice an opinion,” he said. “You want people to get involved. But when it crosses over to hate speech and crimes and making people feel unsafe, that’s not the right way to do things.”
Meanwhile, the job of the police department is to stay neutral, Chell said.
“We’re there to protect and serve, and make arrests,” he said. “We have to make people feel safe. That’s our role in this. The politics of all the other protests, we don’t get involved in that.”
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