It isn’t just me who thinks New York City’s rebellious cops are out of line.
Yesterday, the New York Times unloaded on them in a blistering editorial that labeled their behavior as “sullen insubordination” and called it “deplorable.”
Although NYC’s mayor and police unions are locked in tense labor negotiations, this involves more than a contract dispute. The police want to preempt civilian authority and decide for themselves how laws will be enforced. Among other things, they don’t believe citizens have a right to demonstrate against police brutality, and want to suppress those demonstrations. “Call this what it is,” the Times says, “a hijacking of law-enforcement policy by those who do not set law-enforcement policy.”
The stakes couldn’t be higher. The rebel cops are trying to force their will on the city administration by depriving the city of an effective police force. Their leverage is the implied threat of social chaos. The Times said, “The madness has to stop … cops who refuse to do their jobs and revel in showing contempt to their civilian leaders are damaging the social order.”
High stakes call for drastic measures. The situation is reminiscent of General MacArthur’s insubordination during the Korean War. The Times calls on Mayor DeBlasio and Commissioner Bratton for a Trumanesque response: “He should remind the police that they are public employees, under oath to uphold city and state laws,” and, “If the Police Department’s current commanders cannot get the cops to do their jobs, Mr. de Blasio should consider replacing them.”
The rebels are exploiting the deaths and funerals of two of their own to further a selfish agenda. They’re gambling they can turn public sympathy for the murdered officers into political capital against the civilian authorities. Their goal is to replace policies chosen at the ballot box with their own.
Make no mistake, this is a political fight, and it’s about who’s in control: Citizens and their elected representatives, or cops acting as a law unto themselves and answerable to no one. As the newspaper recognizes, the police unions and rebel cops must not be allowed to succeed.
New York Times photo.