NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio: You Own This

Today, a gathering of police officers, from across the United States and Canada, collectively turned their backs, while New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, gave a eulogy for slain NYPD officer, Rafael Ramos. I’m pretty certain this will be repeated when Officer Liu is also eulogized.

There are many who are outraged by this act, calling it disrespectful.

I respectfully disagree.

I am not a fan of the mayor, I find fault with many of his beliefs and actions. However, that is something I can say with just about every mayor that has held office in New York City. You see, I was born and raised in the city and gave twenty years of my life to the NYPD. They were my ultimate boss; my commander-in-chief, so to speak. Even the darling child of the right, Rudy Giuliani, made my list when he graciously gave us double zero’s on our contract, after we had set record levels of crime reduction in the city.

However, while I am willing to give most mayors a pass when we don’t see eye to eye on an issue, I will always take exception when they turn on the police department they are supposed to lead. My reason is simple: they are the last line of defense the city has and they deserve the support and backing of their boss.

Former New York City Mayor, Ed Koch, knew exactly how important the NYPD was for the city. I worked for Koch and he was loved by the cops. He told all his successors that you must have the support of the cops and he was right. This is a lesson Mayor de Blasio seems to have turned a deaf ear too.

Mayor de Blasio drew the proverbial red line in the sand with his comments following the Eric Garner grand jury decision. The truth is Garner died as a direct result of resisting arrest. This is all a matter of undisputed fact. The 6’4”, 300lb man, who had a criminal history dating back to the 80’s, informed officers that he was not going to comply. When he did this, he took responsibility for setting into motion a series of events that led to his demise. Unfortunately, the man was asthmatic, something he probably should have considered before he resisted arrest.

Whether you agree or not, our society has laws in place for a reason. If you disagree with an arrest, you do not have the right to resist. The argument, as to whether an arrest is lawful or not, is one that should be taken up at court, not out in the street. Garner made a conscientious choice to not comply and this decision cost him his life.

What happened after that is what brings us to the present day action. Mayor de Blasio voiced his beliefs, and those comments were directed at the NYPD, not the criminal.

His statements were concerning alleged abuses of stop-and-frisk, a comprehensive plan to retrain the entire NYPD to reduce the use of excessive force, changing the policy to reduce low-level arrests, and launching a new pilot program for body cameras to improve transparency and accountability.  All of which seemed to place the blame squarely at the foot of the police department. If that wasn’t enough, he even commented on how he and his wife had talked to their son about encounters with the police.  

Call me crazy, but I believe that it is the height of hypocrisy when you denigrate a department that you depend on to provide security for you and your family.

When the unrest erupted in the city, he seemed to take sides with the protesters, giving them reign to run amok in the city, adding fuel to a fire that quickly grew out of control. Was it really any shock when the chants of ‘What do we want? Dead Cops! When do we want it? Now!” began to emerge from the crowds?  

Mayor de Blasio pandered to a base, never expecting what would happen, but that does not relieve him from responsibility for his comments and actions. I believe in my heart that he deserves the backlash he is getting. The old adage 'you reap what you sow' comes to mind.

But lately, it seems that alI that I have been hearing is excuses about 'who' didn't do this, or 'who' didn't do that. I am continually amazed at the level of hypocrisy that emanates from those on the left. They seem willing to lay blame so quickly, for causes they hold dear, but they are immediately incensed when the get a dose of their own medicine. Somehow all of de Blasio’s past rhetoric has been conveniently forgotten.

I’m sorry Mr. Mayor, the fact is, you don’t get to ride the anti-police bandwagon as it suits you, and then, when something happens, pretend you weren’t involved. The left may not want to admit it, but words do count. Obviously the rhetoric being spewed about freely by politicians, pundits and protesters resonated well enough with the murderer of PO’s Ramos and Liu.

Now, when the cops have had enough with their boss and his comments, somehow it is now disrespectful when they turn their backs on him or when the PBA president makes statements about the mayor’s actions.

It’s kind of ironic to me that, when de Blasio asked the protesters, whom he had previously supported, to refrain from protesting during the funerals, they thumbed their nose at him and said no. I guess that disrespect is acceptable.

The problem is, it's a two way street. If the protesters get to have their say, so do we.

De Blasio made a horrific error in judgment, he chose to make his camp among those who only seek to tear down and destroy. He is not the first politician to err, but his legacy will be determined by what he does going forward.

Being a police officer in the nation’s largest city is a seemingly thankless job. The men and women of the New York City Police Department are willing to do that job, but they want, and deserve, a leader who will stand by them.

My suggestion to the mayor is that he learns from this mistake and immediately issues a mea culpa to the members of the Finest police department in the world.