NYPD BURIES
ANOTHER OF ITS OWN
TAGS:
NYPD POLICE OFFICER BRIAN MOORE, LINE OF DUTY DEATH,
PERILS
OF POLICING, “CITY” DOES NOT MOURN WITH NYPD
(Friday May 8, 2015, NYC) The
sun has yet to show its face on the eastern horizon while at this early hour
members of the NYPD are taking their dress blues out of closets after having
made sure their white gloves were clean and pressed. They will don the official
uniform of their Department and travel out to Long Island to pay their respects
to Brian Moore, one of their own. Many
will report to their regular Precincts and Commands and after roll call pile
into a Department car or van and make the drive out to Seaford. They will make that trek in solemn silence
with heavy hearts fully cognizant of the fact that “but for the Grace of God
there go I”. They will assemble in
military precision as the coffin bearing the body of Police Officer Brian Moore
is removed from the church and placed on a hearse for that slow ride to the
cemetery plot in which he will be interred.
The ranks of the dress blues and other uniforms representing Police
Departments and Law Enforcement Agencies from across the country will stand as
one as the Moore family lays their young son to rest. The haunting sounds of the bagpipes will
sound across the expanse of the cemetery and it will be difficult for most in
attendance to not shed a tear. When one
of NYPD’s own is killed in the line of duty every member feels that profound
gut punch sensation. Every MOS, present and past, experiences the most visceral
of reactions as they are forced to confront the stark reality of their chosen
profession. Death, the prospect of
unnatural violent death at the hands of a depraved, heartless soul, or just a
criminal without regard for life, looms as the outsized presence in the
corridors of each Cops soul. The ever
present possibility, the omnipresent potential is kept at bay by whatever
intrinsic or contrived, largely un- and sub- conscious machinations that each
individual possesses. Days such as today
render, at least for a few hours, all such defensive mental gymnastics futile
and foolish. Mourning and grief, grief
that literally claims raw tissue of every MOS’s soul, is never absorbed or
forgotten. It lingers on the periphery
of dreams and idle waking moments. Such
thoughts elicit doubts, fundamental doubts as to cause, mission and
purpose. For the men and women of NYPD the
murder of a Brother or Sister is as wrenching as the loss of a parent.
Working out of the 105th
Precinct in Queens, Police Officer Brian Moore was engaged in a plains clothes
patrol similar to one he had previously been commended and decorated for when
he arrested an assailant with a an illegal firearm. When he and his partner approached a man they
had witnessed adjusting something along his waistband they pulled their
unmarked car alongside of him. They asked him what he was carrying on his waist
and he immediately opened fire shooting PO Moore in the face resulting in a
lethal injury that would ultimately claim his life a few days later. Could his tragic untimely death have been
prevented? Given the dynamics of those
critical moments, absolutely not. He was
involved in an abundantly hazardous detail that was infused with a level of
risk that is difficult to quantify or adequately explain to the average citizen
– to any outsider. Despite the recent
crescendos of protest and brutal, grossly inaccurate criticism against Police
Officers in the wake of several media hyped episodes of questionable Police
tactics, men and women of good character and faith put themselves out onto the
often ill-defined frontier and the always hazardous front line of keeping order
and protecting those who cannot protect themselves. Their task is often uncomfortable and untidy through
the digital lenses of the increased preponderance of cell phone cameras. In our open democratic society such scrutiny
is the Constitutional right and sacred legal prerogative of any and every
bystander and witness. But the advanced technology
readily available to anyone who can afford to purchase such a device does not
have the sophistication to provide context.
Any image or video clip can be damming untethered to the scenario that
unfolded prior to the moment such a camera was aimed in that certain direction.
Today is not the day for
political discussions or examination of the larger issue regarding LEA
interactions with minority communities.
That debate will rage, it will wax and wane as the case against the six
Baltimore Officers who are facing charges from recklessness to depraved heart
murder. Today is a day to push all that
reeking baggage aside and each Officer must come to terms with the realities of
his or her chosen profession. The unity
shown today as thousands of LEA’s from across the country came here to pay
their respects is powerful demonstration of the unity among members of the LEC.
At times such as this
politicians and columnists like to comment that the entire City of New York
grieves along with the NYPD family. That
is simply not only untrue but literally impossible. Yes, the average citizen might read of the
Line of Duty death of an Officer and feel sympathy for his or her family; they
may even say a prayer or, at least for a few moments, consider the inherent
perils of policing in our City. But they cannot mourn along with the Members of Service and their immediate families because they are not privy to
the hundreds, the thousands of daily triumphs and tragedies every Police
Officer experiences during their career.
They do not know the anxiety a spouse experiences when the phone rings
in the small hours of the morning fearing the call will bring unwanted news of
their spouse’s injury or death. They cannot
and do not know the City as an MOS does; they are blissfully unaware of what
transpires each day and night across our Five Boroughs. They do not see, feel or taste what a street
Cop does; they have no inkling of the particulars of policing, of the use of
force born out of situational necessity that is potentially an element of each
and every call they respond to. No, they
are pedestrian bystanders as unfamiliar with the City Cops know as they are with
the surface of the moon.
Brian Moore’s name will be
added to the list of MOS’s who have been killed in the line of duty; it will be
added to the NYPD Memorial Wall at One Police Plaza. The City has already moved on after absorbing
the news of Officer Moore’s death but for the Moore family and the NYPD family
his passing will forever be remembered, honored, and respected. Rest in peace young Officer, you are safely Home now. Amen.
Updated links:
http://observer.com/2015/05/at-funeral-bratton-says-good-work-of-police-gets-lost-in-loud-criticism/
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Brooding Cynyx 2015 © All Rights Reserved
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