January 04, 2015

A FEW THOUGHTS ON POLICE TURNING THEIR BACKS ON MAYOR DIBLASIO

I'm not familiar with these chains of command and codes of conduct in the police or in the military. But isn't it the case that the chain of command and obeying your superiors is of the utmost importance? So aren't these cops turning their backs on DiBlasio (again) during his speech akin to soldiers turning their backs on the president? Should these cops, then, be disciplined for insubordination? Not only for disrespecting the mayor, but after their stunt at the first slain cop's funeral they have now gone against their orders of Police Commissioner Bill Bratton--who urged them to view the funeral for "grieving, not grievances" Police who turned their backs during DiBlasio's speech at the funeral of the first slain cop were disciplined, I believe. But what is really going on here?

A crazy guy shoots two cops and somehow this is translated to DiBlasio has "blood on his hands?" (According the Patrick Lynch of the police union.) Now police are disrespecting their bosses and flying banners over the Hudson demanding apologies to the NYPD from the mayor? Why? Because he dared to question policeman who murders a guy selling loose cigarettes and doesn't go to jail? And to question other unexplained deaths like the recently shot Akai Gurley, who was guilty of nothing but walking with his girlfriend in a dark stairwell unarmed? I understand that police have a difficult job and that most aren't bad cops. But closing ranks behind cops who kill, demanding apologies from anyone who criticizes them so that they can keep on killing unarmed people makes them seem like spoiled babies who are determined to keep killing whoever they want without any legal consequences. It's precisely that lawless "We'll do whatever the f#ck we want" attitude which has brought such heated criticism on police nationally. With these back-turning stunts, they're proving their critics right.