A police union representative told WKBW that the officers were following orders given to them by Deputy Police Commissioner Joe Gramaglia to clear the area and do not believe they were in the wrong.
They were never given orders to smash the heads of the elderly
It is possible to clear an area without pushing old people to the ground.
This may be true, I just wonder how they view the consequences if they hadn't cleared the area. I'm certainly not condoning this man being pushed. It's certainly unfortunate, though the cop couldn't have known he would fall back like that. He should have seen he was much older and fragile. Just walk past the guy. It became FAR worse when they lied about him tripping on his own.
One of the reasons I would like to see more former soldiers in positions of policing is I think they understand how to risk assess and use an appropriate response to the situation. Others just go into auto-pilot and rely on "use your training" mantra. That's well in good for an easily defined situation, but no amount of training can teach ones own genetic critical thinking infrastructure. Not thinking, just reacting shouldn't apply to all situations.