Brooding Cynyc

Sunday, August 7, 2016

COMMISSIONER BILL BRATTON LEAVING NYPD NEXT MONTH

HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

ARE REAL WHILE LEGACY IS MIXED

Bill Bratton leaving NYPD for private consulting firm after

31 months in DeBlasio Administration

TAGS: NYPD, COMMISH BILL BRATTON, NYC & THE POLITICS

OF POLICING, OPINIONS VARY, MIXED LEGACY BUT REAL

PROGRESS, OFTEN POLARIZING TO THE PUBLIC AS WELL

AS TO THE RANK AND FILE, CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT JIMMY O’NEILL

(Sunday August 7, 2016 1PP, NYC) New York City is one of the most celebrated and unique cities on the face of the planet; it is the United States’ most famous, city, the number one tourist destination worldwide for the 17^th year in a row. It is the Safest Big City in America and has been for over a decade. It is a city of international renown, a cosmopolitan urban center of diversity and extremes, dreams and possibilities, the good, bad and ugly coexist shoulder to shoulder and somehow in all its complexity it works. It is the world center for fashion, entertainment, finance, media and the arts. It is I many ways a country unto itself. The Great Metropolis is the home of the country’s, if not the world’s most elite urban Police Department: The NYPD is the “gold standard” by which all other Law Enforcement Agencies are compared and measured and they continue to remain in a class by themselves. The men and women of the NYPD are the most professional, best trained, and most prepared for any circumstance and contingency. Its Specialized Bureaus, Commands and Units possess unparalleled training, experience, and expertise. The 34,000 members of the NYPD keep law and order in the city of 8.5 million residents as well as the thousands who come into our City daily to work, visit, travel and otherwise take advantage of all we have to offer.

Given the nature and status of our City and Police Department, it is easy to understand how difficult the position of Police Commissioner can be. New York City is probably the most political city in the country. Everything here has political implications, ramifications, special interest groups on all sides of every issue, a wealth of competing voices of varying virtue clamoring for attention. It is this wild mix that adds spice to the melting pot while complicating virtually every aspect of life here from the most mundane to the most prominent. The modern Office of the Police Commissioner requires its inhabitant to be as much a maven of urban policing as an astute politician able to navigate the shark filled waters in City Hall, One Police Plaza, and the thousands of small interconnected, seamlessly conjoined neighborhoods; the ethnicities, racial composition, multitude of religions practiced, languages spoken, customs and traditions observed that collectively constitute our City. It is, to make a gross understatement, a difficult job. It can often be a thankless job because our population of 8.5 million means there are at least 8 million critics. For all the scrutiny the Police Commissioner is subject to by all factions of the populace, press, and politicos, he is also evaluated on a continual basis by the very men and women he nominally commands. These are perhaps his greatest critics.

After serving as the Police Commissioner for the last 31 months, Bill Bratton announced last week that he will be stepping down in September to pursue a position in the private sector. His surprise announcement garnered the usual amount of coverage and commentary and has been the fodder feeding discussions in precinct houses and Cop bars across the five Boroughs. Bratton, like most Commissioners leaves no room for ambiguity; you either love him or hate him; one would be hard to find a Cop who is ambivalent about any Commissioner but with Bill Bratton in this his second tenure as NYPD Commish, there is no middle ground.

The New York City Bill Bratton returned to serve in 2014 was a vastly different place then the one he left in 1996 due largely to the effectiveness of the strategies and tactics he’d implemented during his 1994 to 1996 term under Mayor Giuliani. Not without critics and controversy, his employment of “CompStat” and patrolling methodology based on “The Broken Windows” theory was precisely what the City needed in 1994. So effective were those methods that the NYPD was able to take on new challenges particularly in the post 9-11-01 era under Ray Kelly.

Upon his return to NYPD Bratton soon realized that his mission would be more challenging in many ways serving in the Administration of a “Progressive Liberal Mayor” who had made campaign promises to every special interest group, voting bloc, minority community, activists, and agitators of every stripe that would prove nearly impossible to meet even in the most superficial manner. Bratton was forced by Mayor DeBlasio to be more of an active politician than he’d ever wanted or cared for. After a very rocky start which we were never shy about reporting on in this space (and ultimately led us to be banished to FB jail for several months because of a cowardly rat bastard’s complaints). It took the better part of his first year in 1PP to gain his footing but once he did, he was able to arguably direct the Department effectively although often his popularity among the MOS was dismal. Such is the plight for the person who occupies that Office.

Perhaps Bratton’s greatest contribution to the NYPD will manifest itself in the Department’s future. As his hand-picked replacement Bratton tapped the Chief of Department James O’Neill. Chief O’Neill has been with NYPD since 1983 and at every level during his impressive assent from a patrolman to the upper echelons and now the Commissioner’s Office has been characterized by his honesty, integrity, fairness and innovative thinking. He is by all measures an old school “Stand-up Guy”, a “Cop’s Cop”. We wish him nothing but the best when he takes over for Bratton in September. Indeed, one of Bill Bratton’s last decision’s as Commissioner may prove to be his choice of Chief O’Neill as his successor.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bill-bratton-nypd-police-commissioner-resign-tuesday-article-1.2735400

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bratton-warns-terrorism-issue-nyc-face-years-article-1.2741757

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/03/nyregion/bill-bratton-nypd-commissioner.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/de-blasio-bratton-trade-praise-rocky-relationship-article-1.2736311

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-02/nypd-commissioner-bratton-to-retire-in-september-mayor-says

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/08/02/nyregion/ap-us-nyc-police-commissioner-the-latest.html?_r=0

http://nypost.com/2016/08/06/how-brattons-nypd-saved-the-subway-system/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/2/nyc-police-commissioner-william-bratton-stepping-d/

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160802/civic-center/nypd-commissioner-bill-bratton-resign

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bratton

Sunday, July 24, 2016

FEAR FACTORED OUT

CAUTION AND VIGILANCE

ARE NOT SIGNS OF “FEAR"

October 24, 2014 a man later identifed as Zale Thompson approached

with an axe a group of NYPD Officers and,

in an unprovoked attack, struck two of them with the

axe before Officers fired upon the subject, killing him.

TAGS: NYPD, COMMUNITY POLICING,'REAL LIFE POLICING' LEC, LEO,

FEAR IS NOT AN OPTION, MEDIA OFTEN SENDS WRONG MESSAGE

IN POLICE ISSUES, PREGNANCY AND POLICING

(MUST READ TO FIND OUT WHAT THAT MEANS)

(Tuesday July 19, 2016 Mott Haven, The Bronx, NYC) As the streets and sidewalks continue to boil in the relentless heat of an already hot Summer in neighborhoods such as this across the country, every competing narrative be it political, societal or cultural, insists that “words matter”. That, they do. They matter a great deal not only as the nouns, verbs, and adjectives of any news item, argument, or opinion but in the way they are strung together to give life to difficult to express concepts and perspectives very different from our own. Words matter whatever the source; logical, reasoned verbiage will emerge over hyperbolic, emotion-fueled, heated rhetoric in any arena. Our politicians and candidates employ speech writers, “wordsmiths”, to help them craft an artful, compelling message; a message they hope will “connect” with the particular audience they are intended for. The broader the target audience, the more clarity and simplicity the message requires.

In these past weeks of Police shootings as well as the ambushes that have sent Police Officers to violent, bloody death, there has been a veritable ocean of commentary and opinion from all quarters on every side of the myriad issues under discussion and debate in public media, in political advertising and campaigning as well as in the confines of Police Precincts here and everywhere. There are two words that are not getting any traction in Precincts and among the rank and file MOS of the NYPD; “fear” and “scared”. It is dangerous to have these words used as descriptive modifiers in debates and discussions about MOS of the LEC.

FROM DAY ONE

Beginning on the first days a NYPD Cadet spends in the Police Academy, they are taught about situational awareness, presence of mind, and the necessity for constant vigilance. Over the months of training these themes are repeated so often, exercises designed specifically to instill these principles are as much a part of the curriculum that they are interwoven into other more topic specific instruction and study. But this is only the beginning of the indoctrination to these principles; once on the streets teamed with veteran Officers, they learn rapidly how to access a situation, make the nano-second calculations often required to insure the safety of the public as well as their own, and to develop and come to trust their “instinct”, that ill-defined sense born of practical experience and continual exposure to scenarios that range in hazards from very low to “life and death” high. They are also taught that no job, no call or response is ever “routine”; any situation carries with it the unknowns and the potential for escalation and complication. Cops learned to keep emotions in check, to depersonalize certain stimuli to devote full attention to the more problematic components of the scene they find themselves in. This is not meant to be interpreted or in any other way even remotely imply that the emotional shut off allows Officers to “devalue” anyone’s life; quite the contrary. Officers are as much tasked with protecting the lives of others as they are to maintain order, a sense of cohesiveness in our society.

Police Officers are produced through the Police Academy; Cops are made on the streets. For many of us of a certain age we can recall when the veteran Officers would preach that a Rookie is a Rookie in their eyes until they have spent seven years out on the streets. That even year designation was no random standard arbitrarily chosen to keep younger less experienced Officers at arm’s length. Not at all. It was thought that it took a solid seven years before a street Cop had scene at least once essentially every type of scenario they’d be faced with over their career. It was a good marker to set.

FEAR ITSELF

Fear has its place; it has been an integral component of human beings’ survivability from the days our ancestors of antiquity lived in caves. Fear produces the “Fight or Flight” response flooding our bloodstream with a variety of hormones and enzymes that assure that our bodies are physiological prepared for the fight or the flight. There are many degrees and gradients of fear just as there is a similar range for all our behavioral patterns from response to threats to the genetic imperative to love and protect those most closely related to us. Arguably, no human is entirely devoid of fear. Even the brave first seven Mercury Astronauts who were blasted into space in a small capsule perched high atop a literal ballistic missile had some measure of fear in other aspects of their lives. Fear can be dealt with, it can be channeled, handled, shunted in such a way that it becomes an asset not a liability. Fear in its rawest manifestations can be partially conditioned out of a Police Officer with that rawest of feelings replaced by hyperawareness, measured breathing, and an automatic reflexive response elicited from their training and experience.

NOTHING TO LOSE, NOTHING TO FEAR

As we all have witnessed from sites and incidences from just a few miles south of here at the ground where our Twin Towers once stood to the war-torn landscapes of the Middle East, Afghanistan and other countries terrorist have targeted, a person willing to die is essentially fearless. Men that would crash passenger jets into skyscrapers, conduct suicide attacks of every kind and actually believe their death to be their eternal entrance to martyrdom, are virtually impossible to stop. Every gene in our bodies as well as every recess of our brains commands in us the unparalleled desire, the desire to survive. Actions antithetical to this are difficult to comprehend but we have learned the lessons quickly over the last 15 years.

What some among us may not fully realize is that there are those individuals in our cities, on our streets, perhaps right in our neighborhood that so devalue life, their OWN life, that they are in that sense “fearless” and a person without that fear will perpetrate any act or actions they are moved to. Sure, some are terrorists or wannabe terrorists, others infected by serious mental health ailments, still others are simply caught in a cycle of criminality (and all the societal ills that help cultivate it) and a mindset such that committing murder be it premediated or in the heat of the moment manslaughter, is just another fact of their existence. Individuals such as these do not fear jail or prison; they fear no punishment our criminal justice system provides for. They most certainly do not fear the Police; even those who protest that they fear a random encounter with the Police, or view the Police as an “occupying force” in their neighborhoods continue to behave in ways that only increase their chances of a Police encounter.

POLICING AND PREGNANCY

The public discourse of the last two weeks clearly highlights the profound differences among virtually all demographics of our population particularly in our largest urban and metropolitan centers. Each side has their ironclad base beliefs and “core values” that allow for everyone to talk down to or over an opposing perspective. This is “Democracy” in practice even though arguments on each side fall a bit short in ethical and moral objectivity. It seems that every newspaper, periodical, cable “newsertainment” network and talk radio station have their loyal cadre’ of retired LEO, attorneys, experts of varying renown in a wide array of academic disciplines as well as official representatives from the LEC that reinforce any particular media outlet’s political bent. Yes, there are more “Policing experts” on air than had been previously suspected to have even existed. When one of these talking heads is paired off with their polar opposite the discussion turns rancorous and often devolves into nothing more than a petty shouting match. It benefits no segment of society to have such volatile representative allegedly “speaking” for them but these epic shouting matches sure do drive ratings and, make no mistake about it, each media outlet has a distinct bias and are all ratings driven. Rating keep the money pipeline from corporate sponsors flowing.

There is, however, a very significant and substantial between all the experts, politicos and pundits claiming to be Policing mavens. The most appropriate analogy we have developed is in the story of the male physician who goes on to be the world renowned unmatched expert on pregnancy.

This male doctor holds every Board certification available in his field of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN). He has written texts books on human pregnancy and is know the world over as the preeminent expert on pregnancy. This doctor knows the physiology, endocrinology, gynecologic, obstetric, emotional and every other physical manifestation of pregnancy in a woman’s body. He literally is “Dr. Pregnancy”.

Despite all his knowledge and expertise, his decades of practice, research, teaching and writing about pregnancy he can never fully know – know in his body and mind – what precisely it feels like to actually be pregnant.

We employ this analogy as a counter argument to all the well-meaning, sincere, and thoughtful critics of the Police and even to those who demonstrate their idiocy every time they speak publically. Unless a man of woman has served, has donned the uniform, hit the streets, and personally acquired a first-hand account of what being a Police Officer feels like, what it is to function as one in the communities, neighborhoods, subways, housing projects, and every other environment you can think of, then they cannot truly speak about “knowing” or “understanding” Policing, Police Officers, and all that the Job entails. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the primary cold hard fact of the debate; unless you have actually done it and done it for years, you do not, can not grasp, try as you might, understand the Job.

This is not to say that there is no basis for honest, open, objective examination of and discussions on Policing. It is to suggest that the Police have the finest of fine lines to walk. While they defend their profession and colleagues, as they listen to the legitimate complaints and highly emotionally charged grievances of members of the communities they serve, they must exercise the discipline to not simply dismiss all Police criticism as just so much horseshit. Sometimes it requires super human restraint but we as a community, the LEC, should at least listen objectively as we possibly can and to participate from within our own Organizations in any practical efforts or initiatives that might begin the lessen the abyss between “Us” and “Them”. After all, we are, much like the famous Dr. Pregnancy painfully learned, the only people who can.