Source: New York Daily News
On September 1, 1999, the Daily News of New York published an article on the shooting of Gideon Busch. After a meeting with Mayor Rudolph Guiliani and Commissioner Safir, several Orthodox Jewish leaders, including Noach Dear, held a news conference in support of the Police Department. "The Police Department did what they had to do," Dear said. Safir also defended his officers: "This isn't the movies. You don't shoot hammers out of hands. You don't shoot people in the leg. If you use your weapon in exerting deadly physical force, then you shoot to stop the individual who is exerting that deadly force against you. That's what happened. Had they not, we probably would have a dead police officer." Some Jewish leaders, like Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) were not supportive of the police action: "A man who was clearly recognized by the police as an EDP [emotionally disturbed person] was gunned down...Then we are told that the shooting was justified. How?...This is not Dodge City, this is Borough Park."