ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio sought to ease tensions with the police force on Monday (December 22), calling for a suspension of protests against the use of excessive force until after the funerals of two officers killed by a gunman over the weekend.

De Blasio, a Democrat who has come under intense criticism from some police unions for his handling of protests over police killings of unarmed black men, asked the city to stand by families of the officers slain on Saturday.

"It's a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things we will talk about in due time," de Blasio said in a speech to a charity with close ties to the New York Police Department. "Let's comfort these families, let's see them through these funerals. Then debate can begin again."

Prior to his speech, de Blasio visited the families of the slain NYPD cops Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.