August 28, 1998---Ed "The Hypocrite" Koch initially supported both officers involved in the Brooklyn shooting of the 16-year-old carrying a make-believe TEC-9, but quickly conformed to the politically-correct crowd when he found out that the cop was driving the sergeant for "enhanced supervision." This is consistant with Koch's lack of backbone, a condition that is prevalent by anyone that holds elected office. Using Koch's stupidity, anything that the cop would do in the performance of his duties should be looked at with a jaundiced eye, because of something he may have done in the past. Using that as a criterior, Prosay predicts that, at some point, the good, active, enforcement-oriented, cops will dwindle in number, leaving the local society to make out their own 61's, and mailing them to the Police Department.
August 28, 1998---The Associated Press ran a story entitled, "Fuhrman's Legacy is LAPD Reform," reporting that the LAPD, under its chief, Bernard Parks, has a "Mark Fuhrman Task Force" which has investigated 23 "action items" to "prevent lying, racism, sexual harassment, excessive force and creating a hostile work environment... (whatever that is exactly)." Prosay really doesn't know if the name of the "task force" is, in fact, named after the former L.A. Detective, or if that is the "in house" name of it, but to have a unit investigate things that ANY cop could get involved in, then name it after a cop that was never accused of half of the goals of that unit, is a cop-out on the part of the police administration. Fuhrman was cleared by an investigation within the LAPD right after he pled "no contest" to BS criminal charges of perjury while testifying in that legal circus known as the O.J. Simpson Trial. Anyway, Fuhrman is having the last laugh. While the uniformed politicians within the LAPD are dancing around trying to make the cop's job on the street a lot harder (and making fools out of themselves doing it), Mark is writing books, appearing on TV, and making a name for himself as an independent, professional, investigator. One of those LAPD bosses will be reminded of Furhman's sucess when they are standing in a bank as a guard, reminding themselves of all the "great" things they thought they accomplished while on the job, and Mark comes in to cash one of his many checks.
August 25, 1998---Our friend AL SHARPTON finally found fault with the police-involved shooting with the 16-year old with the imitation TEC-9. Big Al feels that the 17 shots fired by the cops were just too many, even against someone holding a 32-shot machine gun. Well, Al, Prosay recommends that you spend a day at Rodman's Neck, and find out what it's like to fire a gun when you have one pointed at you, and see how professional police officers are trained. What's next for an excuse---the plainclothes cops weren't wearing the color of the day, and the perp didn't know they were cops???
August 25, 1998---While on routine patrol, Prosay ran across some brother officers from the Port Authority Police. Contrary to what some of us believe, the NYPD is not the only bunch that have things to complain about. In their case, the conversation circled around the pending promotion of a number of Lieutenants and Captains to upper-echolon Superior Officer ranks (D.I., Insp. etc.) whose reputations have followed them throughout their careers, none apparently too good. One cop said that mentioning the names of any one of the potential promotees brings a feeling of "nausea" to the gastro-intestinal systems of those cops who hear them. "A vicious bunch..." is what another cop called them. One "boss" tried to make a case against a cop for not being home while on sick leave, even though the PA PBA got that overturned in arbitration, and even though the boss grew up with the cop's wife, and was still friendly with her family! He used his knowledge of her job to attempt to "enhance" his "investigation." Despite his failure, the boss was rewarded for trying! This is consistant with Prosay's theory of "Uniformus Politicus," where police bosses use those on Patrol for their own gain. Apparently, despite their last good contract, these fellows feel some apprehension for the future. One cop explained that The P.A. Police is a small job, and a group of bosses such as the ones described could add terrible morale problems. Some of us in the NYPD could say, "Hey, their gettin' the big bucks...what do they have to complain about?" This could be true, but if going the work everyday puts your stomach in a knot before you even put your uniform on...well, that's not really an atmosphere that's good for anyone, including (and especially for) a cop's family. What's worse, according to Prosay's new friends, is that the younger, potential sergeants and lieutenants will have seen and heard how these bosses "sucked ass" for all those years, didn't do "an ounce of police work..." and it paid off, making the day-to-day job all that much worse. At least the NYPD can point to a number of bosses that were very active as cops, and can relate to the trappings of being on patrol. We'll follow this soap opera as it develops.
August 24, 1998---The New York media is reporting the story of a 16-year-old youth who was riding his bicycle at about 0240 hrs. in Brooklyn, carrying a water pistol in the shape of the dreaded "TEC-9" and was fired upon (correctly, it appears) by a Sergeant and his partner. The New York Times gives a good description of just what the cops were up against, describing the real gun and its potential. The segeant and his driver were, fortunately, responding to 911 calls of a man with a gun, one of which came from an off-duty cop. No one from the community seemed to think that a 16-year-old riding a bike at 2 in the morning is very unusual, however. The next day, chief rabblerouser, AL SHARPTON, came out of self-imposed hiding since the "false alarm" about the Ossining police shooting to say something about this Brooklyn incident, but was quick to put most of the blame on toy manufacturers for making such toys. There was some discussion from the community about whether this child with the make-believe machine gun was in the process of dropping the weapon, but any movement by anyone holding something as horrendous as a TEC-9 can only be expected to be met with equally justified movement by the officers. Prosay recommends that anyone not familiar with police defensive procedures watch "COPS" on television. All that yelling and screaming that's done by the officers effecting an arrest (especially at a car-stop) telling the perp what to do and where to kneel is not for the benefit of the cameras.
August 20, 1998---The Fox News Web Page on 8/19 reported that 49 law enforcement officers from Cleveland pled guilty to drug conspiracy charges, based on an FBI sting that took place between 1996 and 1998. While Prosay takes no position on the charges and their pleading guilty, what interests us is a line in the story from one of the non-cop defendants:"...many of (the defendants) just didn't have the money to fight the case." If there are four gas stations on each corner in your neighborhood, or four different fast-food places, it is safe to assume that, at some point, their will be a reduction in price, or, at least, a "price war" which would ultimately benefit the consumer. HOWEVER, despite the fact that there are more lawyers in the U.S. than the total number in the rest of the free world, the price to protect yourself before the bar of justice (i.e. what a lawyer charges you) continues to be prohibitive and results in the above case. This is a disgrace, but, unfortunately, will never change as long as we continue to put lawyers in office to make the laws for our country and communities. The next time you go vote, look at the resume of the person you plan on voting for and think of these saps in Cleveland who couldn't provide a decent defense for themselves and went to jail for up to nine years.
August 19, 1998---The New York Times on Wednesday, 8/19, reports that the New Jersey State Attorney's Office, having been hit lately with big pay-outs on sexual harassment suits, has issued a ridiculous in-house order stating that all "office romances" involving a supervisor and a subordinate shall be brought to the attention of a top manager, in essence, "registering" a relationship. Is that what civil service life has turned into...having to maintain a "ten" card for boyfriends and girlfriends? What if you have an "off-duty" relationship at the same time...should that be registered also, in case there is a conflict between the "off-duty" and "on-duty" relationship? What about an "off-duty" wife or husband? Do you have to "qualify" for an "on-duty" relationship? Gimme a break...
August 17, 1998---Prosay has received by email the latest article of "One Police Plaza," a column that runs in the Long Island-based newspaper, Newsday. It is recommended that readers of Police Review also read this column, which can be accessed on the Web. In this most latest issue, the inside story on the Detective John Wrynn caper is discussed. This story only goes to show that either, (a) Safir really doesn't know what the hell is going on around him, or (b) he is willing to bend over backwards for some people, even if they are not deserving of it, or (c) all of the above. A sub-story about how DCPI Marilyn Mode's dog has more "weight" than most humans on the job is also interesting reading (P.S.: Had Prosay been in the office when the dog did his business, we would have had the shoe that stepped in it vochered while we were enroute to Bellevue for a serious back injury. But Prosay doubts anyone in the DCPI's office would have thought of that, fearing that they may be forced at that point to get their uniforms dry cleaned for actual police work if the injury was not considered "permanent" by the Pension Board).
August 16, 1998---Pardon Prosay's bluntness, but Howard Safir has some balls repeating an "atta-boy" message over and over on all the NYPD radio frequencies directed at Patrol for the "fine" work they did during the Bell Atlantic Telephone Strike. The cat-calls during and after the Dispatcher reading the message says it all. As one "cat-caller" stated on one frequency, "They got 8%, we got double-zeros...maybe we should strike..." At this point in his tenure, Howard should just leave well enough alone and go about his business without trying to show his comradarie with the troops. Howard Safir comes from the Federal Law Enforcement community, where the agents still practically have to stand and bow when a boss enters a room. Inside reports when he was first made PC were that he was shocked that the upper-echelon bosses didn't genuflect at the threshold of his office. The closest thing Safir has in common with an NYPD cop is that Safir was born in the Bronx, and there are NYPD officers patroling the Bronx. If one needs a better evaluation of Mr. Safir, just ask JOHN TIMONEY.
August 16, 1998---If you think that detrimental political influence in the day-to-day operation of a police department is limited to big city departments, the Sunday (8/16) New York Times shows that it is really pervasive. In a story in the "National" section entitled, "On Indian Reservations in the West, Violent Crime Soars," there is a quote from a police officer from the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona that could have been spoken here (italics added): "We know we need more police officers," said Officer Roanna Buck, "but that's up to the politicians. The tribal leadership is overlooking the crime because they don't want to admit that it's happening." The tribal police chief complains that the youth of the tribes go to such cities as Los Angeles and bring back the bad habits of the big city. However, the youths are apparently not the only ones that follow in the cities footsteps. The tribes are implimenting politically-correct police activities such as community policing programs and gang units. These units, as many of us know already, may or may not be productive units (and whose officers' productivity may also be questioned), but become almost impossible to eliminate just on the basis of the unit's titles, and the political ramifications of doing it. Futher indication of politician's influence in the tribal police is the report that they hired 45 new cops over the past few years with federal funds, but there was not enough money for the addition equipment needed, such as police cars and uniforms. Some tribal politician will use those 45 cops as a campaign point in the next election, but will bob-and-weave and leave the podium when the question is asked why these pawns...eh, officers, have to wear jeans and tee shirts and use their own cars.
August 12, 1998---The NYC civil service newspaper, The Chief, is reporting in their August 14th edition that EMS employees in NYC will now enjoy the benefit of a disability pension equal to 3/4's of their salary. This is excellent news for those EMT's and Paramedics that do a very necessary job in sometimes very dangerous conditions. However, some police agencies outside of NYC are in the New York State Police Pension System, and a disability pension for those cops appointed after 1973 is only equal to 60% or 66% under "Tier 2". For the "new kids on the block," EMS did alright for themselves, considering they are not even in one of the Uniformed Force Pension Systems of NYC. Obviously this was done because of the FDNY takeover of EMS. How could workers on the same job get less for the same exact danger (by the way, this increase in pension benefit did not come easy---the Guiliani Administration was adamantly OPPOSED to it...Albany legislators passed it and Gov. Pataki signed it into law)? But now it's time for the Albany lobbyists of the various police agencies outside NYC to correct the inequity of the 60%-vs-75% disability pension.
