Bratton Stands Up For The Good Guys

Throughout the debate about policing, I've been really torn. That has only been worse with the events in New York. I literally never had a negative feeling about the NYPD before, and with good reason. They are the best and bravest of the city. They do the tough job every day. They do it well too.

NYPD Chief Bratton pretty much summed up many of my thoughts in his speech at the memorial of officer Wenjian Liu:

Speaking shortly after Mayor Bill de Blasio at the Brooklyn funeral home that hosted Liu’s burial service, Mr. Bratton seemed to strike back at accusations of racism and overbearing policing from protesters enraged at the killing of black Staten Islander Eric Garner at the hands of NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo. Mr. Bratton recalled Liu’s life story, as an immigrant who came from China at age 12 and resolved to join the force after the 9/11 attacks.

“For 170 years, immigrants in this city have found a home in the NYPD,” Mr. Bratton said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Only the homelands have changed over time. First it was the Irish, then it was the Italians.”

“And now our cops come from everywhere. The NYPD looks a lot more like the city it serves than some people think,” he continued.

Mr. Bratton went on to challenge accusations that the police department is an authoritarian force, arguing instead that law enforcement allows for the possibility of open expression.

“Everyone who comes here is from someplace where opportunity is more rare. Someplace where fear is more common. Someplace less free,” he said. “And if you come from such a place, is it any wonder you’d want to join the profession that helps make America so different? Because without public safety there is no possibility of free government. Everything that our government promises—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear—everything starts with public safety. It starts with us.”

Bratton went on to ask why "we always lose the good ones," before answering that it is the law of averages- almost all the cops are good.

There are certain conflicting realities in the debate over policing. On the one hand, African-American men are simply policed differently by an exponential percentage, and that isn't acceptable. On the other hand, 99% of cops are good people doing an essential job. Both are true. The difference may be one in one-hundred cops, or simply a matter of broad policy oversights that cause real problems. It's not an issue of 25% of the cops or some other absurd number being bad. In the rush to paint broad, full strokes over our cops and public safety workers, the debate has gotten away from us.