When Will NYPD Accept Accountability.

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(ThyBlackMan.com) The nation does understand that the NYPD is mourning the loss of comrades. These men had families, and their loss is tragic. The problem that I can’t seem to get over is: Why doesn’t NYPD seem to understand that the murder of Eric Garner caused mourning and anger. This would lead a thinking person to feel as though NYPD does not value the lives within the community it serves, but demands that the life of officers are to be respected.

Police officers should be aware that the people have the right to peaceful protest when they are in objection to the method by which they are being handled. This does not make citizens “anti-police”; the people are anti police brutality. If an officer does their job with integrity, and fairness then the issue is not with that particular officer. The problem is not enough, there are some, police officers are speaking out against the behaviors of their fellow comrades. This leads the people to believe that the silent officers agree with the brutality.

The bottom line, per video footage, Eric Garner should be alive, and Mayor De Blasio spoke against the treatment of this situation by the police. He is in a position of leadership and should speak against ANY injustice that takes place within his jurisdiction. Requiring accountability does not make this mayor “anti-police”. In like fashion when the officers were murdered he spoke against this action completely. The mayor, as do the police, serve the citizens of the city; he is not to just understand the position of the police. Mayor de Blasio did not incite the people to protesting against the police…the police did that themselves through their behavior and lack of empathy towards the people/community that had been harmed by their actions.

Unlike Mayor De Blasio, former Mayor Rudy Guliani did not speak out against the police, as Eric Garner was not the only case involving excessive force against NYPD, and he was seen as a mayor that stood in solidarity with NYPD. The problem with this is it sends a message that protecting and serving one another is the goal instead of the people. Excessive force by police officers is happening all over the country and the people are fed up. The behavior of some officers are reinforcing the notion that black life does not matter. Just as police officers want to go home at the end of their shift…black people want to return home also. In this regard the NYPD, and officers across the nation, may want to take an honest look at what their behavior and attitudes which are giving cause to…social unrest.

Furthermore, yes all citizens’ even police officers have the right to express their concerns. However, doing so at the funeral of their fallen comrade was distasteful, and disrespectful to the families of the deceased. I understand they felt the mayor made them a target, but that’s pointing the finger instead of accepting accountability for the climate they had a hand in creating. Yet, regardless of how they felt about the mayor the funeral was the wrong place to protest. There are many Americans that have disagreed with the wars this country has engaged in, but the funeral of a solider is not the place to protest. Many have spoken out against this behavior as disrespectful, and the display of the NYPD officers was not an exception. It was wrong, and my heart does go out to the family of the deceased.

It seems that the NYPD, and officers that think like them, have entitlement issues. They don’t seem to realize they became members of a profession that was meant not only to protect, but to serve. Guns, and authority seems to have made some forget what the badge should be about. When a person becomes a police officer they are signing up for a dangerous job; they protect us from the lawless. However, their lives are not worth more than those they took an oath to protect and serve. Until police officers across the nation understand this our country will continue to slip into a state of complete social unrest. Ferguson, and New York are just publicized examples of what will take place nationwide.

Staff Writer; Christian Starr

May connect with this sister over at Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/christian.pierre.9809 and also Twitter; http://twitter.com/MrzZeta.

CD Smith says:

January 13, 2015 at 10:48 am

I don’t believe the police are above the law, but neither are we when we break the law. The Grand Jury did not find that any laws were broken whether you want to accept it or not.

Kelly Thomas, a mentally-challenged white man was beaten to death by the police. But, because he was white, this did not make the news. Unlike Gardner and Brown, he was not committing a crime and it is all on film on youtube. The cops in this case were acquitted a well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Kelly_Thomas

Therefore, I know there are “some” bad cops out there but the point is “our” reaction when confronted by the police. This is what we have the “power” to change. We cannot hold “court” in the street. Sometimes it is better to live and “fight” another day.

And the truth is that black people probably more than any other group need the police in their communities. And there are a lot more good ones than bad ones.

reality_check says:

January 12, 2015 at 8:36 pm

CD Smith: You are conveniently ignoring the fact that the choke hold the cops used in this case is ILLEGAL.

The problem with blacks like you is that you basically say that police are justified in breaking the law to enforce the law. This is not how it works. Police officers are NOT above the law, thus cannot break it to enforce it.

So to your point, no, Eric Gardner would not be alive today had he complied with the officers- he’d be alive today if the officers had not used illegal para-military maneuvers to subdue a man for a non-violent offense.

Get real.

CD Smith says:

January 12, 2015 at 3:57 pm

No, my response is based on facts. The autopsy report stated that cause of death was a heart failure, not asphyxiation as your corner claims. The problem is instead of teaching our men how to “handle” themselves to survive a police encounter, we hear to much rhetoric telling them someone is out to get them/kill and hunt them down. This sets up an attitude of fear and defiance in black men that creates these situations that gets the “few” that do, killed. This article mostly encouraged this mindset.

The police are supposed to be aggressive and suspicious. They are rolling up on unknown circumstances and situations and they want live and go home just like everyone else. So, if you are not compliant with their instructions or defiant you will lose. If you care about black men, give them the “tools” to make informed decisions when confronted by police instead of appealing to their sense of anger, fear and resentment.

I hope it won’t happen to you, but a day may come when appreciate a certain level of “aggressiveness” by the police when they come to help you in dangerous situation.

jdgwisd says:

January 12, 2015 at 11:30 am

C.D:

Your response smacks of cultural ignorance. I, for one, do not spend my time trying to obtain the approval of the dominant culture. Just leave me alone, allow me to do what is necessary as a citizen…..Oh wait! what should I do when a aggressive law enforcement officer with control issues pull me over at 2:30 in the morning(I’m on my way to work) demanding my destination(I had on a labcoat and card key lankard). I’m sorry you are under the illusion of inclusion, but many African Americans are not deluded.

CD Smith says:

January 11, 2015 at 10:42 pm

The article started off with a false assertion that Eric Gardner was murdered. His death was caused by a heart failure. If he had simply “complied” with the police officers instructions, he would most likely be alive. He was out on bail the day he died and given his long police record, I am confident that he knew how to comply with police instruction as least at some point in his “career”.

I have grown tired of writers like this that continue to create a hostile in attitude in the black community that put black men in the mindset that they are in some “war” with the police. For over 50 years as black man, death by the police is not even in my top 10 daily concerns…

Jamiah Wilson says:

January 11, 2015 at 7:06 pm

That was a well written article,Christian you put the feelings of a lot of Americans in the proper context.