March 19, 1999---When NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was running for his present job, he derided his predecessor for taking a hands-on position in criminal justice matters, saying (rightfully) that the NYS Attorney General's office is not, by law, responsible for those criminal matters that are to be handled by the locally elected District Attorneys. However, Spitzer must have forgotten this line, and, finding it politically correct, has recently gotten himself involved in investigation the NYPD Street Crime Unit. Why not? Every politician has to move the Pawns!
February 17, 1999---Mayor Rudy appeared tonight on CNN's "Crossfire", which had conservative reporter Bob Novak and the liberal's liberal, Bob Press asking the questions. The first questions involved the potential of a Hillary vs. Rudy Senate campaign. The second question was from Bill Press, who tried to make the recent SCU shooting and the Louima case a national incident and attempted to ridicule the entire NYPD for them. Rudy, to his credit, moved right in on Press, saying the facts weren't in on either, and to attempt to use a broad-brush the entire department was completely impossible to accept. It was a good move for Giuliani, and he handled the entire half hour excellently. It did make him look like a good conservative for national office. But we would all be better served here in the NYC trenches if Rudy would use this same pro-cop and pro-fairness vocabulary when he's talking to Howie Safir behind the scenes in City Hall, or is face-to-face with the black supremacist and race baiter, Al Sharpton.
February 09, 1999---"I REJOICE WHEN COPS ARE KILLED..." was the cry from the public meeting. But it wasn't from the usual suspects. Nor was it said at the scene of the recent tragedy in the Bronx. It was said a a Town Council meeting at the Town of Jackson, NJ in the southern part of the state. According to the 2/09 issue of The Trentonian, the speaker of these heinous words was a Mr. Joe Hardik, who was voicing his opinion about how the Jackson PD handled a recent escaped 400+ pound Bengal Tiger that roamed freely recent in and around the town. It is not known exactly where the tiger came from, but authorities have some ideas, including a small tiger preserve that is located in Jackson that many of the residents didn't even know about. Despite the extreme danger of this man-eater, many turned out at the meeting to complain about how the cops handled the situation. After several unsuccessful attempts to 'dart' the very large animal, cops were forced to use 'deadly physical force' to protect the community. Admitted cop-hater Hardik said that he mourned the loss of the tiger, adding his praise for cop-killers. Fortunately, many at the meeting were outraged by his statement. Jackson is not some left-wing hamlet. A large part of its population is made up of Jersey City, Newark, and Port Authority cops and their families. How this guy Hardik got there is anyone's guess, but maybe he should move out to avoid any other tiger mishaps and the snears of the cops that live in the town and their families.
February 08, 1999---Ever try to figure out what happens to those PD bosses who leave the job with college degrees, masters, and doctorates? Prosay always tried to figure out how they GOT those degrees in the first place, while being cops, sergeants, and higher, in a major metropolitan police department. Obviously, getting stuck with a collar at 2200 or 2300 hrs, then having to lay on the floor of 100 Centre St for 8, 16, 24 hours to get some sleep is not conducive to higher learning. One-time PC BEN WARD always bragged that he got his law degree while working in a busy precinct in Brooklyn, but let slip out one time that he had a steady midnight foot-post that had a big public school on it, to which he had the key. Another member of academia that came from the NYPD, James Fyfe, did most of his "20" doing "vertical patrol" in the Police Academy Building, retiring as a Lieutenant. Now he comments from Temple University, and sounding like one of those "old timers" that tell you how rough it was when they were on the job 30 or 40 years ago. In the Sunday NY Times of 2/07, Fyfe sounds like he's been out of the loop for quite awhile, commenting on the Bronx caper in which 41 shots were fired by four Street Crime Unit cops, and questioning the need of semi-auto's while on patrol:
"In a way, it's like saying Porsches are faster and more powerful than Chevys, so we should equip the cops with Porsches," said James Fyfe, a criminologist at Temple University who questioned the shift to nines. "Chevys start every morning."Sorry, professor, but with your history in the job, we wouldn't even want to take you opinion on cars, much less guns. Prof. Fyfe must have gone to the David Dinkins School of Balistics, who, upon becoming mayor, almost immediately tried to convince the NYPD to convert down to a .32 calibre revolver!
