Respect the city’s fi nest
BROOKLYNPAPER.COM
COURIER L 48 IFE, AUG. 23-29, 2019
EDITORIAL
Nine NYPD officers have
taken their own lives
this year, six cops in
Philadelphia were shot last
week while protecting their
city, and the nation seems to
continue to slip into a dark
divide between police and civilians
that needs mending.
But the much-needed way
out of this darkness starts
with a respect for the authorities.
Make no mistake, there
have been times when police
have acted inappropriately
and this is not intended to
undermine those situations.
This editorial is to remind
us all that the good of many
always outshines the darkness
of few.
Just imagine this: you’re
an officer out on patrol and a
call comes through the radio
for domestic abuse. You then
rush into that home to see a
screaming child attempting
to defend their helpless
mother from an abusive
aggressor, but
fortunately you’re
in time before anything
too severe
happens.
After almost suffering
a broken jaw
along with cuts from
the knife that the sick
minded individual was
wielding, you’re able to
subdue them with no
harm to both the mother
and child, just as backup
arrives.
You decide to head
downstairs and step outside
as soon as you see that your
colleagues are in control of
the scene. You just want a
second to clear your head
from the horrible trauma
that unfurled before continuing
your patrol; after
all, you’re only an hour into
your shift.
So, you step outside, and
suddenly you’re drenched
head to toe from a bucket of
water while you see
almost a dozen people
laughing while
recording your humiliation
on their
cell phones. They
don’t know what
you had just been
through and almost
just as sad,
they don’t seem to
care.
We can’t imagine a
day at work going like
that, but in a department
of roughly 35,000,
far too many NYPD offi -
cers have seen something
similar to that hypothetical
scenario — and especially
this summer.
The officers that remain
nameless are the ones that
do their jobs heroically,
swiftly and fairly. They are
New York’s Finest.
It’s now more than ever
that there’s a civic duty of
all New Yorkers let alone
Americans to remind police
that they are welcome in our
communities. It’s on us to
show that we respect law enforcement
and their families
for the sacrifices made so we
have safer streets to walk.
Elected officials from all
over the five boroughs have
called for the due respect
that should be given to police,
it is our obligation to
carry that out.
No matter what, there
will come a time when you
are in need of the police.
However, now is a time that
the police are in need of us.
Even just saying, “Stay safe
officer” to a cop leaving a
deli can go further than you
could imagine.
Letting the NYPD know
that their work isn’t in vain
could end up saving a life,
perhaps even yours, someday.
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