Police Union to Mayor: don't attend my funeral

Mayor DeBlasio and commissioner Bill Braton — Mayor deBlasio and commissioner Bill Braton

New York City’s police union, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, is urging its members to ban Mayor Bill de Blasio from their funerals, the latest episode in the ongoing clash between the mayor and the city’s law-enforcement power structure.Officers are encouraged to fill out a form on the union’s website titled “Don’t Insult My Sacrifice” to request that neither de Blasio nor Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito attend their funeral, should they be killed in the line of duty.

The form reads:

I, _____________________, as a New York City police officer, request that Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito refrain from attending my funeral services in the event that I am killed in the line of duty. Due to Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito’s consistent refusal to show police officers the support and respect they deserve, I believe that their attendance at the funeral of a fallen New York City police officer is an insult to that officer’s memory and sacrifice.

Melissa Mark-Viverito

For months, PBA president Patrick Lynch has complained about what he views as insufficient support from the mayor, particularly after the July 17 death of Eric Garner, who died after NYPD officers put him in a chokehold. In the wake of the incident, de Blasio recounted telling his 17-year-old biracial son, Dante, about the need to be careful around police officers. Lynch accused de Blasio of “stirring the emotions of the street” and throwing officers “under the bus.”

De Blasio and Mark-Viverito issued a joint statement calling the new PBA form “deeply disappointing.”

“Incendiary rhetoric like this serves only to divide the city, and New Yorkers reject these tactics,” said the statement. “The mayor and the Speaker both know better than to think this inappropriate stunt represents the views of the majority of police officers and their families.”

Police Commissioner William Bratton hasn’t commented on the controversy.

Since taking office, de Blasio has struggled to balance supporting the NYPD with acknowledging the distrust many

Lynch

have when it comes to racial profiling, exemplified by the controversial “Stop and Frisk” policy.

“There’s a difference between saying we should respect our officers, which of course we should,” de Blasio said in response to criticism from Lynch this month, “versus the reality that so many parents have felt that unfortunately their child might confront unfair treatment.”

This article was originally published at http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/police-to-de-blasio-dont-attend-my-funeral/383734/

PUBLISHER’S NOTE:

Union heads have every right to fight hard as hell to represent their members, no one denies them that. It seem however that Lynch and his members fundamentally believe they are above the laws. It appears from his rhetoric he places the police department above the duly elected Mayor of the city of New York , the city council president and more importantly the diverse mosaic which is the world’s largest city.
Thuggery, strong-arm tactics, intimidation, bullying, disrespect, are just a few of the tactics employed by Lynch on behalf of the rank and file members of the NYPD,or officers who are refereed to as white badges.
How does Lynch expect his members to perform their functions in a hostile environment?
More importantly how does the Union and it’s spokesperson expect qualified support for officers when he unequivocally supports what are clear and egregious transgressions by his colleagues?
All Police officers want to be appreciated , that goes without saying. The way to be accepted is to show empathy with those who are aggrieved by police action.
You are appreciated when you fess-up and ask for forgiveness when you do wrong or make mistakes. Even your most ardent critic will have a hard time being belligerent (to borrow a term you abuse, when you do mea-culpas.
Eight years of Rudolp Giuliani and Twelve of Bloomberg has done significant damage to the mentality of NYPD cops. This Mayor is exactly on the right course in standing with the citizens of new York when they are wronged and standing with cops when they are right.
That is exactly the correct approach for any Mayor>
This page salutes Mayor deBlasio for the fair and equitable way he has handled those functions since he became mayor. NYPD cops cannot be above the laws , the sooner they realize that the better. For years city Hall has coddled them even as they abuse and kill citizens unjustly. It is time for them to develop a different mentality , one which recognizes the basic and fundamental rights citizens have to life and liberty.
Saying cops do not go out to kill citizens is malarkey. The fact is, people are being killed in front our very eyes, whether you went out to do it is immaterial. It is cold comfort to the families left behind to grieve.
It cannot be that cops are judge , jury , end executioner, particularly when in literally all cases the citizens killed, lose their lives for minor infractions, like allegedly selling loose cigarettes.
The sale of loose cigarettes shouldn’t even be an arrest-able offence.
Yet Eric Garner is dead.
Lynch being the crass moron he is blamed the dead Garner for his own death. This creep needs to know he was not elected to Govern the city, Mayor deBlazio was.
Just as Anthony Baez was killed because his football hit a squad car belonging to the residents of the city of New York.
This is where Lynch should direct his energies , it will most certainly pay bigger dividends for his officers and all New Yorkers.