Instead,
numerous officers in New York felt compelled to turn the funeral services Sunday
for the officer shot to death while sitting in his parked squad car last month
into a statement that will reinforce the beliefs of some in our society that
the police are as much the problem as anybody else.
I
HAD HOPED officers would not see the need to make their statement against Mayor
Bill deBlasio as they have on several occasions, including the funeral services
held last week for Liu’s partner, Rafael Ramos – who also was shot to death by
a man who used Facebook to say he was avenging the deaths of black men in New
York and Ferguson, Mo., who were killed by police.
Their
gesture was to turn their backs to de Blasio – as a way of publicly showing
they refuse to acknowledge his presence.
Police
Commissioner Bill Bratton had said he wanted New York officers to show the
mayor professional respect during the funeral service on Sunday. Instead,
officers outside the funeral home where a Buddhist service was held turned
their back to a video screen while de Blasio spoke – and faced it again once de
Blasio sat down.
Although
it should be noted the New York Daily News reported that it was not clear that
all the officers who “protested” were actually New York cops – some may have
been out-of-town officers who showed up to show solidarity amongst law
enforcement personnel.
BUT
IT STILL comes across as a juvenile gesture – one that legitimate police officers
seeking public respect ought to know better than to commit.
For
the record, police in New York have been turning their backs on de Blasio ever
since the death of Eric Garner – who was strangled by a New York cop with a
headlock grip. De Blasio, who has a biracial son, made comments about how he
feared his son might be treated by police.
In
short, he conceded that the activists upset over the deaths of Garner and
Michael Brown in the St. Louis suburbs may well have a legitimate point when it
comes to police encounters with black people.
These
officers, instead of trying to figure out how to close the gap in trust that
exists between them and black people, seem to expect blind loyalty.
AS
THOUGH THE lesson we should learn from the deaths of Ramos and Liu (who by all
evidence were not doing anything threatening to anyone at the time they were
shot) is that people like Garner and Brown (and anyone else whom police decide
to use force upon) got what they deserved.
I
know there are some people in our society who will be eager to believe such a
line of thought. But THAT is the problem we face!
That
is why I’m not sure what to think of the fact that other law enforcement
agencies feel compelled to express their support to their New York
counterparts.
Including
Chicago, where on New Year’s Day our city’s own officers gathered at a police
memorial near Soldier Field to show their support for fallen police officers –
with Ramos and Liu given special mention for the Dec. 20 incident in which the two were shot and killed while on duty in
Brooklyn a month earlier.
I’D
LIKE TO think our own police officers would behave better than their New York
counterparts if the incidents were occurring here.
Then
again, with the gap in trust between police and some in our society, that might
be the New Year’s wish that’s just too much to ask for.
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