ANTI-POLICE
PROTESTERS THROW FAKE BLOOD ON
NYPD
COMMISSIONER BILL BRATTON IN MIDTOWN
MEDIA BIAS AGAINST POLICE ENCOURAGES PROTESTS
TAGS:
NYPD RIFT WITH MAYOR de BLASIO,
POOR,
IRRESPONSIBLE MEDIA COVERAGE,
RIFT
IS AS WIDE AS IT HAS EVER BEEN,
PBA,
SBA, AND DEA NOT ENCOURAGING “WORK-SLOWDOWN”,
COPS
WORKING IN TEAMS, NYC MEDIA HISTORICALLY CRITICAL OF NYPD
(Tuesday December 30, 2014,
NYC) Cops are accustomed to walking fine
lines. The hierarchical structure of the
NYPD itself as a civil service Law Enforcement Agency with a well-defined chain
of command and control provides the regimentation required to have a 34,000
member force function effectively and efficiently. The NYPD is steeped in
tradition and a rich, proud history and in good times and bad the men and women
of the Police Department perform their assigned tasks in accordance with the
laws that govern the USA, the State of New York, and The City itself. To many it can be seen as an insular,
self-protecting fraternity and, like many large entities both public and
private, in some ways it is just that.
While the public presence of the Members of Service (MOS) is highly
visible throughout the Five Boroughs, some of its customs and codes are
familiar only to the MOS. There is an
internal cohesiveness of the type required among men and women whose lives
often can depend on their coworkers.
In the latest maelstrom with
Law Enforcement as a whole and the NYPD in particular convulsing through the
country and NYC, it has been interesting to follow the coverage of events in
the local media. Lately every half-assed
scribe, hack reporter, and TV talking head most with little or no actual
experience or knowledge of the NYPD is suddenly an expert on policing, the NYPD,
and the codes and customs, written and unwritten, of the MOS. Some of the trash
that has been printed in the papers and spoken on the airwaves has been
disingenuous at best, derisive, divisive, and inflammatory at worst. Those who have written and spoken so callously
with the feigned air of the “experts” have generally made matters worse. Like it or not the media often helps shape
public opinion and defines the lines of the debate. These people given the size of the audiences
they can reach are quick to point the finger at the NYPD for being
“irresponsible” and “disgracefully disrespectful” towards Mayor Bill de Blasio
after two Officers were assassinated in Brooklyn on the Saturday before
Christmas are themselves atop the pinnacle of irresponsibility and
disrespectfulness. They fail to
recognize, or chose not to see, some of the most relevant facts regarding the
relationship between the MOS of the NYPD and the de Blasio administration and
the Mayor himself who has done more to widen the already deep rift that has
torn the relationship between City Hall and One Police Plaza apart. One would be hard pressed to find a time in
the past anywhere approaching the level of estrangement between a Mayor and the
PD.
It did not have to be this
way; the NYPD did not pick this fight, so to speak but as the first waves
emanating out of Ferguson Missouri began to break on our shores, Mayor de Blasio
did as much as any one person could to promulgate and exploit the racial
divisions that the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson could do. And, as the Mayor of the largest city in the
USA, also, by the way, the “Safest Big City” in the country thanks to the
efforts of the NYPD over the last 20 years, his words echoed from coast to
coast. And time and again he chose his
words with little thought often speaking in terms that painted the NYPD as a
reckless street gang of brutal racist thugs who young Black men need to
fear. He shamelessly made these points
using his own biracial teenage son as one of the legions of Black youth that
have to be taught how to interact with the police if they are ever stopped for
any reason. One might think that the Mayor
of the largest, safest City in America that is also the most diverse and has
the most diverse PD of any in the land would be possessed of better political
acumen but obviously he lacks that skill.
His mayoral candidacy was based largely on an anti-Police platform
employing so many of the “dog whistle catch phrases” he and his advisers were
sure would reach their intended constituents.
And they did. But like so many
other ambitious, spineless, self-serving, politicians before him he learned
quickly that being the Mayor of the City of New York is infinitely more
challenging and complex than being a mere candidate in a pool of no-name
lightweights.
As the first Commissioner of
the NYPD and future President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt once remarked,
it is far easier to be a critic instead of being in the arena, engaged in the
fight. Rather than step boldly into the
arena as Mayor, Bill de Blasio remained in perpetual “campaign mode” never
missing an opportunity to at least verbally pacify his unruly, clamoring,
“broad coalition” of New Yorkers who vaulted him to victory. When he reached back in time and appointed
Bill Bratton as his NYPD Commissioner it was likely with a sense of nostalgia
and a political nod to his experience.
Bratton had been the Commissioner in the first term of Rudy Giuliani’s
administration and was a very effective, innovative leader who began the
concerted efforts to reclaim Our City from the staggering crime rates and poor
quality of life that had come to define huge swathes of the Boroughs. But twenty years has changed Bratton just as
we all have changed to some degree over two decades of living, learning, and
experiences. The Bratton of 2014 is
nowhere near the Bratton of 1994 and that became painfully obvious almost from
his first days on the job.
The highly anticipated “summit
meeting” tomorrow with the Mayor and the presidents of the three major Police
unions is not expected to yield any results towards repairing the rift. It would be a start if at least, privately,
de Blasio apologized for some of his most egregious anti-NYPD rhetoric but that
is not likely to happen. Some in the
media claim that the recent protests against the Mayor by MOS of the NYPD are “union”
activity and that the unions are “over-playing their hands”. This could not be further from the
truth. Turning their backs towards a
Mayor who has not supported them is a respectfully silent statement. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA),
Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA), and he Detectives Endowment Association
(DEA), the “Big Three” of the Police unions have not encouraged their
membership to conduct themselves in any way that might be perceived as a “work slowdown”
or “job action”. Such activity would come dangerously close to violating the
Taylor Law, the New York City legislation enacted in 1967 that prohibits any
job actions and particularly a strike of the MOS of a “vital civil service” and
was aimed specifically when written, at the NYPD. But that was another time, in another City
and the NYPD has never violated the Taylor Law and absolutely no one is
suggesting doing so now. Columnists such as the NY Daily News’ Pete Hamill has
written many untruths about the current crisis, the NYPD and his views , which
he is as entitled to as he is air to breath, are wrong and his opinions
simpleminded, idiotic, and misinformed.
But he has the potential to reach a broad readership and he should be
more professional in his pontificating and bloviating. He is but one of a host of media “professionals”
who have either inaccurately reported events and/or provided unsound and often
unfounded commentary. But there is not a
Cop that has ever expected a “fair shake” from the press or TV media; they are
constantly being accused of some grievous wrongs, brutality, racism, and
various other “charges” that serve merely to illustrate how little they really
know about our City, the NYPD, and life on the streets.
Tomorrow night the NYPD will
be out in full force performing a monumental task that they have down to a
science. They will use their tried and
true tactics, perhaps as much of an art as a science, and will in a organized
manner usher in upwards of one million people into Times Square and the
surrounding blocks who’ve come to see in the New Year at this most famous
crossroads in America. Crowd control is
one task the NYPD does exceptionally well and has set the standards other large
cities have always tried to emulate. The
uniformed Police presence will be extremely visible but there will also be
hundreds of other “plain clothes Cops” from a variety of Commands, Squads and
Units on site to assure the safety and security of the reveling throngs. From the Emergency Services Unit (ESU) to the
Counter Terrorism Unit, the Police will be on guard for threats of any and
every kind in addition to managing a literal sea of humanity. There will be thousands of tourists from
across the country and around the world in Times Square tomorrow night and none
need worry about their safety. Some
visitors may not even be aware of the current crisis we are experiencing and,
like many others, they usually want to shake hands with Cops and wish them
well. For a few hours every year, the last hours of every year, people are
grateful and appreciative towards the Cops and that does mean something; it
always has.
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Brooding Cynyx 2014 © All Rights Reserved
