New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer played it safe while addressing the controversy surrounding his treatment of his security detail during a HuffPost Live interview on Thursday.
Stringer was hesitant to comment when host Marc Lamont Hill pressed for answers on what led NYPD officers to leave the comptroller's service. The New York Post reported Nov. 4 that two cops had been fired from Stringer's detail because "they were late picking him up in the morning." Two days later the Post published a story saying the officers had actually decided to quit themselves because Stringer demanded they drive his wife to work.
Stringer told HuffPost Live the officers were "reassigned," not fired. Asked to clarify the difference between firing and reassigning, Stringer asserted that "they still have a job, but they just don't have it with me."
Reports claimed Stringer was careful to be in the vehicle when officers drove his wife in an effort to stay within city regulations. The Post explained:
Stringer went along for the ride — even though he had no official business — to avoid violating city rules that forbid the detail from chauffeuring a public official’s spouse alone. Sources said the comptroller often lets his city-funded security detail drive his wife to and from work — but he’s always in the car, too.
"The security is with you throughout the entire day, from morning, noon and night, so you have to balance that," Stringer told HuffPost Live. "One thing I will tell you is we follow rules and regulations to a T. We don't violate rules and regulations, and you can certainly call the NYPD and ask them those questions."
Stringer's final word on his wife's presence among his security detail: "When she travels with me, she travels with me."
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