20 THE QUEENS COURIER • JULY 23, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial
End the hostility over police reform
Police offi cers go out there every
day and risk their lives for the collective
THE QUEENS
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VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ZACHARY GEWELB
NIRMAL SINGH
JACOB KAYE
ANGELICA ACEVEDO, JENNA BAGCAL, KATRINA MEDOFF,
CARLOTTA MOHAMED, BILL PARRY
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
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VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
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Story: Queens councilman delivers new
shuffl eboard equipment to local seniors
Summary: Holden delivered brand-new
shuffl eboard equipment, paid for by his offi ce, to a
group of local residents who frequent the courts at
Juniper Valley Park on July 15.
Reach: 1,751 (as of 7/20/20)
safety of our city. Th ey certainly
need our support. Yet there have been
far too many instances of police brutality
not just in New York City but
also in America — and there’s an evergrowing
public demand for change in
how cops approach and do their jobs.
Th e top brass at the NYPD have
said publicly they’ve heard that
appeal and are working to reform
from within. Th ose statements, however,
seemed to confl ict with what
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea
told police executives at a crime statistics
meeting last week.
In a video tape of that meeting,
obtained by the Daily News, Shea
seemed to call leaders at City Hall
“cowards … who won’t stand up for
what’s right” and “don’t have a goddamn
clue what they’re talking about.”
Shea didn’t mention anyone by
name, but we imagine he’s referring
to many City Council members
who support “defunding” the NYPD
— shift ing resources away from the
agency toward other departments
within city government.
What kind of message does this
send to the rank and fi le of the NYPD
when their own boss
suggests that lawmakers are “cowards”
who “don’t have a goddamn clue
what they’re talking about”?
It’s bad enough that some protesters
have taken to name-calling and cursing
out NYPD offi cers on patrol. Must
we now have the head of the NYPD
doing the very same thing about lawmakers
and activists seeking change?
Why must there be such hostility
among the NYPD and police unions
toward any call for reform? Can they
not acknowledge that New Yorkers
not only want a peaceful, safer city —
but also a better NYPD than the one
they already have? Is that too much
to ask?
Civil rights and policing New York
City are two topics too important to be
diminished by name-calling and vilifi
cation. For once, let’s stop the rhetoric
and work together toward meaningful,
long-lasting police reform.
Th is city’s leadership, in government
and community, and the NYPD must
swallow their pride and get this done
for the good of us all.
Th is is our city — by our, we mean
the more than 8 million of us who
call New York home. And the NYPD
is ours to reform, as are the consequences.
We must meet that challenge
at last.
Photo via Shutterstock
The time to reform the NYPD is now.
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