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NYPD Union: Democratically Elected Leaders Shouldn't Tell Cops What To Do
By
Nathan Tempey
Published May 7, 2015
Modified May 7, 2015
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Paul Hawthorne/Getty
By
Nathan Tempey
Published May 7, 2015
Modified May 7, 2015
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That didn't take long. On Monday, NYPD Officer Brian Moore died of a gunshot wound suffered in Queens over the weekend, and now a police union is arguing that policies aimed at tamping down police abuses are making it dangerous for officers.
Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association, told CBS 2, "The criminals are carrying their guns again in this city because they feel emboldened, empowered by politicians who seem to be advocating for them, you know, right here in the City Council."
He is apparently referring to the proposal to decriminalize minor offenses that ensnare many New Yorkers, predominately young men of color, in the criminal justice system, with life-altering consequences. He continued:
"You have a runaway City Council that is a body of lawmakers that actually want to dictate policy and run the Police Department when they should just leave the Police Department to the police professionals."
In other words, the city's government should stop trying to legislate how this particular class of city employees operates, despite being elected to do that very thing. (Palladino, for reference, once said a waitress who accused detectives of raping her "was trying to serve them more than they ordered.") But Palladino is not a lone union boss spouting predictable talking points on behalf of the municipal workers he represents. No, someone in higher office agrees with him. CBS again:
"It's just assumed, especially in many elements of the media and politics, that the cop is wrong, that the cop has a bad intention, that the cop is just focused on trying to hurt innocent people," said Rep. Peter King, R-Long Island. "That's a terrible, terrible atmosphere to create."
King, as the report notes, does not represent the people of New York City.
It should go without saying but apparently it doesn't: Nobody on the supposedly pro-criminal City Council is arguing that Moore's death wasn't tragic, just like they weren't arguing that when two officers were murdered in Bedford-Stuyvesant in December. The ability to be in favor of incarcerating fewer people on a discriminatory basis and also be against murdering police officers is apparently not possible, according to Palladino. And as horrific as any murder is, violent crime is at a historic low, as is violence against police officers, in New York and nationwide. Still, thousands of cops openly protested de Blasio this winter, by turning their backs on him at police funerals and temporarily halting the lucrative practice of Broken Windows policing with a work slowdown.
Why the police union response is quieter now may have something to do with this note at the end of CBS's segment:
"Both King and Palladino said they believe Mayor Bill de Blasio has changed his tone towards police and they like what they're hearing."
Exhibit A showing de Blasio's changed tone: His redefinition of civil disobedience to mean doing what police tell you. It probably helps, too, that since the winter's discontent, most of the police unions have ratified contracts with City Hall.
Tagged
Brian Moore
broken windows
Detectives Endowment Association
labor dispute
Michael Palladino
nypd
police murder
Nathan Tempey
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