Cool it, guys

Throw the book at the soakers. There is no excuse, none, for dousing cops with water — including, in one case, a tossed bucket — as fools have now taken to doing in Harlem, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Police officers are public servants who deserve respect. And they are justifiably on guard when on patrol, which makes such provocations downright dangerous.

The NYPD is right to arrest perpetrators; prosecutors must follow through to send a clear signal.

But since we’re on the subject of cold water, let’s throw some on the overheated rhetoric coming from police unions, particularly Sergeants Benevolent Association chief Ed Mullins. He claims such incidents are happening because New Yorkers have had the gall to criticize the NYPD’s handling of the disciplinary case against Officer Daniel Pantaleo,

who applied the fatal chokehold on Eric Garner.

If new rules of decriminalization and public engagement were fueling rampant disrespect and causing cops to pull back from enforcement, wouldn’t that show up in crime reports, a version of the socalled (maybe apocryphal) Ferguson Effect? Instead, nearly six years into Bill de Blasio’s mayoralty, crime is down to historic lows, use of force is down, summons and arrests are down.

To the extent that there are pockets of the city where anti-cop animus is intense and growing, stamp it out. Kudos to Public Advocate Jumaane Williams for speaking out against the dousings Wednesday. That’s leadership.

But don’t dare use a few isolated albeit reprehensible incidents to try to shut down legitimate criticism of the NYPD. That’s craven opportunism.