The Legal Aid Society condemned the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for delaying court appearances by refusing to participate in preliminary hearings for a week during the George Floyd demonstrations, impacting  New Yorkers held pretrial and awaiting possible release from Rikers Island, reports The Appeal.

“I don’t understand why the police officers can’t do their job,” said Christopher Pisciotta, Attorney-in-Charge of The Legal Aid Society’s Staten Island trial office. “They made an arrest on felony charges. They have 36,000 officers. I can’t understand why they can’t free up an officer to come and testify, as required by the law.”