Are police brutality and right wing politics related? I believe so, but can only speak for my hometown. In New York City, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani allowed our police force free reign to terrorize poor, homeless and minority citizens, all in the name of law & order, the implication being that these people are mostly criminals worthy of nothing less than tyranny. The police even called it Giuliani Time, and used that phrase more than once as they brutalized New Yorkers. Giulianis 8 years as mayor were followed by the 12 year mayoralty of Michael Bloomberg, an elitist multibillionaire only too happy to continue Giulianis Stop & Frisk and Sweep Night policies, whereby minority citizens were absolutely terrorized by New Yorks Finest. Twenty years of conservative rule ruined an already troubled police department, and far too many of our officers are aggressive, impersonal and casually rude to the public they swore to protect and serve. Brutality is common, and in recent months 2 unarmed and unthreatening citizens were killed by NYPD officers. The reaction of the department was rage at those who would dare protest these killings. When 2 police officers were murdered in Brooklyn by a deranged out-of-towner in retaliation for a nationwide epidemic of police killings of Black Americans, the NYPD union chief went on a rampage, blaming the Mayor, the President and Reverend Al Sharpton rather than the actual killer, who took his own life. PBA president Patrick Lynch is the poster boy for police arrogance and aggression, and his public tirades have turned The NYPD against Mayor Bill DiBlasio. Police officers even went so far as to disgrace themselves at the funeral of a brother officer last week, politicizing the senseless and tragic death of Rafael Ramos in front of his widow and children. A day of mourning and solidarity became Lynchs cheap political theater and personal vendetta, and a black eye for our city. The time has come to change the NYPD, emboldened and corrupted by 20 years of conservative leadership in City Hall. I hope that DiBlasio is the man who can do it. He is their boss, and he needs to set the tone in no uncertain terms, changing their training and policies, and instituting direct civilian supervision. The police dont have to like it, they just need to obey.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 22:43:30 +0000