[](/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/08/NYPD.jpg)Police nationwide are feeling unsupported by elected officials and government – and that is simply awful and terrible. Nationwide, in the great United States of America, thanks should be constant to heroic police officers who risk their lives to keep us safe.
In America’s biggest city, New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has not been supportive of the police department. As Sergeant Ed Mullins, President of the Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) of the NYPD said this week when calling for the 2016 Democratic National Convention to not come to New York City,
The Mayor has provided a public platform to the loudest of the city’s anti-safety agitators, instead of giving voice to the millions of New Yorkers who want to live and work in safety. Why would you kowtow to demagogues who push a political agenda? Do you really think people in the city care more about politics than quality of life?
Mullins noted,
The degradation of our streets is on the rise. As reported widely in the media, shootings have increased by 13% percent citywide since last year. At the same time, the squeegee people are reappearing on the streets, and aggressive panhandlers and con-men are populating the subways and Times Square. Why? Because diminished support for police officers translates directly into crime spikes and drops in quality of life. And right now the number of cops on the streets is insufficient to address the city’s growing problems. The NYPD is understaffed and overworked, and underpaid. Morale among police officers is low, and there are few signs that it will get better any time soon. Our Mayor can’t be a leader in the fight against crime without supporting his police force.
While perhaps it is baffling that countless elected officials blame the police constantly, perhaps the answer as to why comes from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani who said some months ago that the lack of support for our boys in blue “comes more from this very left-wing ideology, which is an anti-police ideology.”
Being a police officer is a very difficult job – it has to be so much harder when people do not feel the support of elected officials and government – the very people who should be supporting law and order.
Mullins noted that when De Blasio “ran for office last year, he spoke of a ‘Tale of Two Cities.’ Indeed, the City is heading toward a very real division: one part of the city consisting of citizens who respect the rule of law, and the other led by anti-safety political opportunists and blowhards pursuing a personal and political agenda.” People want safety – not politics.
Police officers wake up, do their jobs and go home to their families. Nothing is perfect in anyone’s life – or profession – and unfortunately in law enforcement mistakes happen. That doesn’t mean that elected officials can throw the baby out with the bathwater. Police officers remain committed to enforcing the law and improving the quality of life of Americans nationwide.
As a native New Yorker, I remember a different city. There was crime, violence, squeegee men and drug pushers on every corner. New York needs strong law and order in this concrete jungle which I love so much. Police officers remain committed to making cities safe – and elected officials must stand side by side with them. Supporting the police department should not be a political decision.
Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click here.
Subscribe to Frontpage’s TV show, The Glazov Gang, and LIKE it on Facebook.
Leave a Reply