Social Commentary: On Policemen

10/30/11

On Policemen

It’s probably not the best way to start a commentary; it can be seen as hedging one’s bet. But, in this case, I felt obliged to begin with a qualification: I have a healthy respect for the law and those who are charged with upholding it. They are willing to risk their lives to serve the law and the common good. Besides, my father was a law officer for over 20 years. So, I have some experience in this area. However, because of the risk they take to protect our lives and property, we too often put them on a pedestal that elevates them to a level where they may lose perspective. After all, they are human beings, not machines. Therefore, they are subject to the same human emotions as anyone, including greed, avarice, and hubris. And, because of their position of extreme and, sometimes, ultimate authority, the pressure to avoid allowing absolute power to corrupt absolutely must be intense. So intense, in fact, it overwhelms.

In addition to my experience with my father, I have an almost daily exposure to the NYPD. My job requires me to work the streets of NYC to cover breaking news stories and events throughout the City. It is here that I regularly encounter both beat cops and the specialized unit designated to deal with the media: the DCPI or The Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information. I have had both good and bad encounters with the NYPD. Sometimes, they are helpful, patient, and cooperative. At other times, they are downright nasty! It can really depend on the situation and I understand that. I have found that the ONLY way to deal with the NYPD in the field is to totally defer to their judgment, wishes, whims and authority. You cannot, on ANY terms, question their authority, even when you believe that they are wrong in their demands and instructions. After all, the Press and the public do have a right to witness and document events as they are happening. But if you attempt to exercise that right too vigorously, you WILL BE intimidated until you stop. At the UN one day to cover the General Assembly meeting, an officer from DCPI ordered us to move our camera positions to another location. Of course, we would oblige but it would take a little time to execute the move. Well, we weren’t moving fast enough for the officer and he started to aggressively move people. When one female reporter objected to his rough handling, he got even more aggressive and eventually had her arrested for not having all the proper credentials to be at the UN. You just don’t fuck with the NYPD! It creates an attitude of entitlement and empowerment that can lead to nefarious behavior.

However, even though I understand that it’s a difficult job requiring a tough demeanor, there is a not-so-subtle attitude that the police can sometime be above the law they have sworn to defend. There are risks to being a police officer but there are benefits, too. And, sometimes, the police see some of those benefits as having special privileges. The latest manifestation of that attitude recently took place in the Bronx. 16 police officers have been accused and charged with a vast ticket-fixing and influence peddling scandal that has rocked the department. I don’t know if these police officers are guilty or not. That is up to the court to decide. However, I am concerned and disappointed that this type of scandal is still happening with regularity in the NYPD. And I am even more mortified by the behavior of the NYPD during the arraignment of the 16 officers at State Supreme Court in the Bronx. As reported in Saturday’s NY Times, A three-year investigation into the police’s habit of fixing traffic and parking tickets in the unsealing of indictments on Friday and a stunning display of vitriol by hundreds of off-duty officers, who converged on the courthouse to applaud their accused colleagues and denounce their prosecution. The police Union organized the demonstration. As the police officers were arraigned, the off-duty policemen disrupted the proceedings by shouting, cursing and taunting prosecutors and investigators. At one point they accosted journalists who were covering the story, preventing them from reaching the accused for photographs and videotaping. The attending officers even chanted an offensive slogan directed at people on line at the Welfare office across the street from the courthouse. Furthermore, the accused police officers were afforded preferential treatment, avoiding the so-called perp walk (parading the accused in front of the TV cameras) by secreting them away from a back door in black vans. Patrick J. Lynch, the union president, explained the union’s outrage at the charges by saying the police officers had been arrested for something accepted at all ranks for decades. The union also dubbed it professional courtesy.

WTF?!

This is entitlement in the worst sense of the word. Law enforcement has been entrusted with a sacred mission – to protect the innocent, enforce the law AS IT IS WRITTEN, and resist all temptation to abuse the power given them. Instead, this group has chosen to present itself as ABOVE THE LAW. First, they support a system of patronage and privilege that is flat out wrong. Then, when they are subject to the system of justice they’ve sworn to protect, they do everything in their power to prevent that system from moving forward! They tell the people that they arrest to trust in the justice system. However, when the tide is turned, they have no faith in that system. And, instead of protecting the innocent, they use their power and influence to bully and intimidate. This is totally UNACCEPTABLE. In fact, it’s more than that. It’s INEXCUSABLE.

Even though we acknowledge the humanity of those in law enforcement, we must hold them to a higher standard. We must have a police force whose members believe whole heartedly in the slogan that is emblazoned across most police cars in this country: TO PROTECT AND TO SERVE. This sense of entitlement that has been exhibited by these police officers in the Bronx is shameful and counter-productive to good community policing. The public must KNOW that those charged to protect them are not above the law and have the PUBLICS’ best interests at heart, and not their own.