Calling it a “life and death” issue, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the police department's English-only policy as crucial to running the nation’s largest and most diverse police force, reports the New York Daily News. “I don't see how you can ever run any company or any organization unless everybody speaks the same language,” said Bloomberg, who routinely ends his news conferences in Spanish. The the policy is so strict that an officer was cited for uttering one sentence in Spanish. “This is life and death,” the mayor said. “Everybody has to be able to understand the same commands instantly and go in the direction they're ordered to go when lives are on the line.” Critics say Bloomberg misses the point. “We're talking about conversations between officers. Not emergencies,” said Anthony Miranda, chairman of the National Latino Officers Association.