James Blake meets with mayor, police commissioner over arrest mixup

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A meeting was held Monday discussing the case of mistaken identity involving a former tennis star.

James Blake sat down with Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton to address his wrongful arrest.

Retired tennis star James Blake left his City Hall sit down with the mayor and police commissioner Monday night determined to use his violent encounter with an NYPD officer as a force for change.

"We're talking about lasting impact, we're not looking for a lawsuit or anything that's going to be a quick and easy solution, we're looking for lasting positive impact on the city and on the police force," Blake said.

On September 9th, Blake was forcefully arrested and handcuffed by a veteran NYPD officer who was acting on a tip about some stolen credit cards that were used to buy cell phones.

Blake, a wealthy, retired tennis player was not involved in the crime and neither was the person the officer mistook Blake for. Blake requested Monday's meeting.

"The general theme was accountability and making sure we focused on that with the police officers in general and I think we were all pleasantly surprised," Blake said.

"It was a very productive meeting, a very positive meeting," Mayor de Blasio said.

The mayor did not elaborate, but the City Council is considering a proposal to create an early intervention system that, "will track officers who demonstrate a tendency toward excessive force...let's monitor it, and let's make sure the NYPD has a plan to address it," a statement from the council said.

Blake said the world might not know about his case if he wasn't in the public eye.

"I don't know if I would have had the same voice, I don't know if I would have been on 'Good Morning America,' I don't know if I would have had those kinds of situations, but I want to try to react to it in a positive manner and make a difference," Blake said.

Blake, who had been ranked as high as No. 4 in the world and reached three Grand Slam quarterfinals, retired after the 2013 U.S. Open.

He won 10 singles titles, most recently in 2007. Twice he reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, a hometown tournament that seemed to bring out his best play.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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