NYPD “Puppets” Are Going To Be On Display For A Long Time

Lights, camera, ACTION!

After all of the riots going on all over the country following news that two white police officers won’t be convicted of killing two black men in our country, the public won’t stop asking: how can we improve relations between cops and the community? 

In New York, we’re going to try equipping our cops with small body cameras to capture those special moments when police feel like whipping their guns out to shoot someone who allegedly “poses a clear threat” to their lives. These cameras, which will be placed on police officers working in some of the city’s most crime ridden precincts, will also capture the moments before, during and after an officer makes any “unethical” moves that will be challenged by the public and civil rights leaders.

I have a feeling this is going to be one of those columns where I pose endless rhetorical questions that not too many people can directly answer. However, there are a lot of unanswered questions that will leave protesters unsettled – leading to MORE outrage and MORE arrests by police officers. This is a revolving door society – and whatever police departments across the country decide to do to tame racial tensions between police and civilians, in my opinion, will never work.

How can we ease tensions between civilians and police? How can we improve interactions between cops and residents so that there is less violence and tragedy?

From what I observe in our community, police officers are not trained to truly interact with the community. I don’t count shoving people away from police lines and telling them they’re “interfering with police activity” as interacting. I don’t count “we can’t tell you anything…just back off” as interacting.

After cops graduate from the Academy, what are they taught about enforcing the law while simultaneously developing a rapport with residents? Are they just puppets being controlled by heads of the department to end someone’s life if they see fit? Are we ever going to have police officers THEMSELVES talk to the community? Do we have any NYPD sessions in our community where the very cops who patrol our streets talk to people in an open forum? If there has been, the Canarsie Courier doesn’t know about it. It seems like police officers don’t have to answer to the public, only their “higher ups” and “bigwigs” such as Community Affairs and youth officers can say a few words to the public.

How about the way teenagers view police? Parents, during interviews with the media, claim they’ve “had talks with their children about their chances of being stopped and questioned by a police officer because of factors such as their race.” Are any police officers – and not ones who are retired from the force – going to speak with the public? They’re not supposed to. Why?

What is the NYPD doing – DOING – action-wise to improve their reputation among residents? Fortunately, that question DOES have answer. Last week Mayor de Blasio said the NYPD is going to retrain officers and “improve the dynamic” between police and the community. They’re going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to teach cops to respond in a less violent manner. So they won’t use the “excessive force” that was demonstrated on Eric Garner.

Aren’t police officers’ reputations already stained?

Aren’t there so many cases where the police department simply can’t save their image – such as the “accidental” shooting at the Pink Houses in East New York which left a 28-year-old unarmed man dead for literally NO reason?

Let’s get real! You can retrain them – re-wire them…re-string them…They’re still going to listen to the puppeteer! Be it good ole Mr. Bratton, de Blasio himself, their captains, deputy inspectors, or the sergeants and lieutenants they work with at their assigned precincts. The cops themselves, who patrol the streets aren’t going to engage in conversation with the public to change their reputation. Right???

It also doesn’t sound like police will want to get to know people in the neighborhoods which they patrol. During many civic meetings I’ve been to, people complain about the horrible “attitude” cops have – and the lack of courteousness received from them in general.  From a civilians’ standpoint, it looks as if police aren’t allowed to be personable with people – they’re not allowed to talk to civilians in a… civil manner!

We’re not asking cops to make friends with everyone they come across. We're not asking them to give up their “I’m tougher and better than you” demeanor – although that would help!

The foundation of a good relationship – of any kind – is communication, and there’s little of that when it comes to police and residents. Yes, their job is to enforce the law and keep order, but the disrespect communities have for police officers is growing and causing more disorder.

I might be offering a petty and simple-minded idea that will never play a role in law enforcement – where officers are friendly to youths and professionally greeted those whom they protect. Let’s see if “reform” really makes police officer New York’s finest!

(Unpublished as of 11-5-14)