Life is hard enough without extra tall tales
State PBA President Anthony Wieners recently alleged he witnessed a Trenton child wearing a bullet proof vest while playing in a city neighborhood.
Such a damning allegation should include a photograph, a name, or at least a street address so that media members could corroborate this incredible story.
Imagine, a city kid dressed in a miniature Kevlar jacket, maybe out riding a skateboard or playing catch with a football.
Such a photo would find world-wide circulation as critics scrutinized the decline of this capital city.
(Quick Wieners, go pay a city mom to put her child in a Kevlar coat then present the photo. Sorry, buddy, this ship has sailed).
Yes, sure, OK, Trenton is in the midst of a criminal wave probably never witnessed before but when Wieners, whose recent agenda includes his request for a resignation of Mayor Tony Mack and a police force takeover by Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini, voiced such a visualization as a kid wearing a Flak Jacket, someone should have asked for proof.
If we rely on individual testimony, then our unquestioning belief should extend to anyone who makes any claim against a police officer.
For instance, I witnessed a Trenton police officer beat a pigeon to death with his city-issued revolver; another sleeping in his cruiser; and one other rough up a 98-year-old woman.
Certainly, no person in their right mind would accept these allegations without hardcore evidence.
Hey, maybe Wieners did see what he says but I hold fast to the adage to believe half of what I see and nothing about what people say without proof. Not this, not now, because this city remains immersed in volatile mode.
Wieners may be playing fast and loose with the truth or maybe he really witnessed this event.
Imagine, Trenton living on such a wild and dangerous edge that parents were forced to send their children outside draped in bullet proof vests.
Even so, maybe the parents decked their child in protective armor to keep him from being shot by a police officer.
If Wieners allegation is true, then perhaps we should applaud the mother or father who cared enough about their child to dress him in violence-appropriate gear.
It’s no different than Princeton school officials putting head gear on soccer, field hockey and girls’ lacrosse players to guard against concussions.
In fact, should city violence proliferate then education leaders should fill school backpacks with pencils, notebooks and bullet proof vests.
Wieners failed to respond to a voice mail left at the PBA office Friday. Maybe he had a full schedule or perhaps he and his troopers were involved in distribution of vests to city children.
Regardless, Trenton remains immersed in a political cauldron where PBA officials want a return to the past when police chiefs ran the department. Or, they want their guy in the position, although they are quick to assert that a replacement need not be Caucasian.
Trenton languishes in a muggled murderous state where an indicted mayor who constantly complained that his police department needs more officers now alleges that if he had a better director criminal activity would subside.
The city’s police department remains down more than 100 officers since 2011 layoffs depleted the almost 375-member force.
Maybe some businesses can accomplish more with less, but such a strategy never works with law enforcement.
This force needs bodies and requires that officers follow orders given by their director, not their Police Benevolent Association brethren.
Imagine this current scenario with Wieners wanting Mack and Rivera gone; Mack allegedly desiring Rivera out; and a significant number of residents grasping at straws in hopes that the mayor resigns before his January 2014 corruption trial.
Trenton does not need unsubstantiated bullet proof vest tales.
Life is ugly enough here.