How police unions resist reform
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Los Altos, Calif.: After half a decade of high-profile murders of African Americans, and worldwide protests, many police unions are still resisting change and rushing to defend rogue cops. Across the country, they have mounted strong opposition to reforms endorsed by politicians whose own judgment has often been swayed by donations from these police unions. Membership in these unions is at record levels.
As a result, few officers who are guilty of brutality or worse are ever held accountable. The few who are fired are often reinstated when public pressure wanes. Disputes are often settled by binding arbitration behind closed doors, allowing unions to flex their legal muscles, intimidating local prosecutors. Kim Gardner, a top prosecutor in St. Louis, attempted to create a separate unit in her office to prosecute police cases, but her efforts were roundly defeated by the powerful local union, which even threatened to remove her by force. Steve Fletcher, a Minneapolis city councilman, is a frequent critic of the Police Department, who has tried to defund them. In retaliation, the police declined to respond to 911 calls by his constituents.
Even federal intervention mandated by a federal consentdecree is often ignored by a wait and see approach. There is little hope that the divider-in-chief, aided and abetted by the morally bankrupt Republican Party and U.S. attorney general will heal a grieving nation. Tejinder Uberoi
Social justice worriers
New Hyde Park, L.I.: Definition of a leftist: a social activist, rabble-rouser, protester, agitator, faultfinder, firebrand and outspoken critic of the law and the establishment, and the first to cry out for police protection when their life is threatened.
Shelley Birnbaum
Condolences
Reevesville, S.C.: I would like to send my condolences to the 23rd Precinct. My heart is hurting after learning that a 39-year-old female off-duty NYPD officer committed suicide. Betty Simpson
Unfair for whom?
Winston-Salem, N.C.: To Voicer Charles Adrian O’Connor: Writing “life is unfair; deal with it,” has to be one of the most uneducated and ridiculous statements I’ve ever heard. You and your white ancestors were never subjected to over 400 years of racism and slavery. You, as a white man, have never been turned down for a job or a home, or had a bank deny you a loan because of the color of your skin. For those of us who have, what you have said is an insult. Let’s count the number of young white men who have been killed/murdered by the
police, or racists, because of the color of their skin — somewhat hard to figure that one out. Yet, we can name those people of color without blinking an eye. Yes, life can be unfair, but racism of any kind is not something people of color can, or will, get used to! Kellye McKay
A bunch of maybes
Manhattan: In 1992, I served on a grand jury. In one case, a young black man had brought a criminal complaint against his ex-girlfriend for violating a protection order he had gotten against her. During his testimony, the prosecutor repeatedly got his name wrong, and ended by saying, “The defendant may leave the stand.” When I got to the microphone, I told the prosecutor that he had repeatedly disrespected the man, especially by calling him a “defendant.” I’ve told this story to black people, and to people who, like me, are white. White folks always come up with a bunch of maybes excusing the prosecutor’s behavior. There were no maybes, only blatant disrespect. After the murder of George Floyd, people are trying to fix the criminal justice system by prosecuting more cops, enacting chokehold laws, etc. These measures are good, but they won’t solve the ultimate problem. That problem can only be solved when more white people run out of maybes. John Stout
Brown buried
Bronx: As an educator and coach, I was disappointed to see your coverage of the Senate’s confirmation of Gen. Charles Brown Jr. as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force demoted to page 12 of June 10th’s Daily News. Surely in this time of unrest, a better response would have been to give the story of the first black officer to lead one of the nation’s military services a more prominent position in your newspaper. Gen. Brown’s career deserves better.
Used clothes
Howard Beach: Voicer Rick Sinclair wants to know how soon it will be before Trump Bibles go on sale. I believe they are being packaged with the Pelosi Kente cloth.
Bennett Lavorino
Silent majority
Wantagh, L.I.: The naiveté of the people pushing for the defunding of police departments around the country is mind-boggling. It is a sure road to the quick ruination of
MARC A. HERMANN FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS our country. This movement needs to be roundly rejected by the sensible people who are quietly watching the growing number of crackpots who are buying into it. If the silent majority doesn’t start to speak up and restore some common sense to this issue, we will be left with a country in chaos.
Out of office
Brooklyn: Monday night, with the mayor speaking of defunding the NYPD, there were three separate shootings, with seven wounded, in Brooklyn. The mayor has handcuffed the NYPD from performing their job: arresting criminals. If the city becomes under siege because of out-of-control crime, I can see no other recourse but for the governor to remove him from office.
Joseph V. Comperchio
No sympathy
Thomas Urban
Bellerose Manor: Our media is so one-sided its sickening! Oh, poor little white girl, a big bad cop pushed her. Boo hoo. I’m no cop, and I’m white. Now she’ll be rich after she sues the city for pain and anguish. Maybe they will make a movie about her.
Dianne Clemente
It’s on video
Franklin, N.J.: When I read the story about Jana’e Brown filing a formal complaint against that self-righteous individual Svitlana Flom, I was thrilled. To her representative, who argues that women who are nine months pregnant don’t pick fights — she just did! It’s on video. It’s about time that people start being punished for their racist actions. Amy Cooper got everything she deserved. Now I see another video, shot at a gas station, where this white woman is telling a girl to go back to Mexico! Anytime these episodes are caught on tape, these people should be found and fined! Disgusting behavior.
Kathy Ricker
Life on Earth
Seaford, L.I.: Before we worry about life and tourism on Mars, maybe some of that money could be used to heal the wounds in America. We here on Earth are facing many financial battles due to the virus and now the protests. Help the homeless, veterans and low-income families with food and housing, instead of building a civilization on Mars.
Frances Harwood