Cops-R-Us’ has now released a statement to the public in a ‘Cops-R-Us PR-Brief’ explaining all the above while ‘defending’ themselves (a.k.a. justifying their conduct). Here’s a copy of the ‘Cops-R-Us PR-Brief’ on our page and here’s the official statement: Folks, Cops of R-U is an organization that was created in order to protect the citizenry from bad cops, not to undermine the hard work and dedication of good cops in service to the communities that we serve. We have nothing but love for the NYPD and all the officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. Cops of R-U was started because this city and this nation have too many bad cops and not enough accountability when they step out of line, whether that is by lying or committing a sexual crime against a victim who had no way to defend herself. If one of us does something wrong we step down, but if a bad cop does something wrong, he stays on the job. As for our involvement in the Bravolebrity’s case, I, John Ray was quoted in the media numerous times in defense of the police department and their officers. In an article about how I was getting out the word about the importance of holding cops accountable when they break the law, my quote was used to support the idea that it was the bad cops, not the good cops that needed to be held accountable. This is something I would never say out of line, but this particular case became about who the people thought was the bad cop in this scenario. If there was any truth to what the victim said and the evidence she presented, we all know that the NYPD has more than enough men and women who are brave, dedicated and honorable and those officers are the ones who protect our community every day. We do realize that the media, celebrities and their lawyers are out to make money and we all know where the real dirt is found. When I read about all of this on the front page of NYPost.com, and the fact that there was evidence that two of our very own detectives were involved in this case, it was very hard for me to understand why these allegations were made. How would this have anything to do with a bunch of cops coming together to tell our story of how we all believe in law enforcement? If the NYPD was involved in some sort of cover up on this case, we would never be involved. Here’s what happened: Our organization started back in February of 2015. We were born from a team of dedicated men and women who were sick and tired of seeing videos and news coverage which told a story about police misconduct without all the facts being given. We knew we had to do something in order to get the message out that you can’t believe everything you hear or read in the media and we had to do it ourselves. So, we started Cops-R-Us. We set up a private Facebook page, created a simple logo and made sure we all knew what we stood for. We knew that we were no more than three years away from a police department that had no problems or scandals under its belt and here we were creating more headlines. At one point I said something in one of our threads that may have been taken out of context. Instead of me condemning all police officers, the words I said, were taken in the complete opposite way I meant them to be taken. Let me make this clear: I stand by every single word that I said about the police and the men and women who serve us and protect our communities. But, when I try to stand up for my own brothers and sisters in blue, people want to paint me in a different light. And, when I say “good cops who do a great job,” everyone interprets that differently and the comments I’m talking about are actually our words to let the public know what our beliefs are as an organization. We don’t say our NYPD members are good or bad. We say they do a good job. They do the best job in the world. We love all our men and women who wear the uniform. The truth is, the only reason we know anything about this case is because the Bravolebrity had no respect for our hard-working officers and tried to make a media spectacle out of this case. If we were to create our own page and try to give a message, it would only serve to help more media outlets and celebrities tell their twisted version of the truth. Our message was to shine a light on good cops who do a great job while there are countless others that need to be held accountable for their crimes. This whole situation is just another example of how easy it is for an out-of-control media to twist words and make it sound like we stand for something other than the truth. They paint a very accurate picture when they make people think that the only way to have a productive conversation about law enforcement is to just go to what many consider an anti-police website, instead of a website that is trying to give an honest opinion on all the people that make our neighborhoods safe. If you look at the majority of the comments and posts we have on our page, you’ll see that we are all united. No matter how the media and their lawyers twist this, we are strong and standing together, and we will not back down from any anti-police group that wants to use us for their own agenda. In fact, we are proud to be the organization that puts out the truth about police officers that truly deserve it. If any good cop has ever been put in this position before and made to feel helpless, just remember that we are here for you. We are on your side. We will stand behind you. John Ray President of Cops-R-Us The organization is made up of members who have worked in New York’s finest, including police officers from each borough and New York State. Cops-R-Us is currently engaged in a fight to fight to keep the NYPD accountable and out of the headlines and is calling for an independent review of the department. The organization currently has 12,000 members and continues to grow every day, having made over a dozen appearances on cable news, which has garnered more than 150,000 views on YouTube and tens of thousands more in print. You can join the Cops-R-Us page here. Additional reporting by Linda Rosencrance Comments