| Monday, September
18, 2006
The members of the New Orleans Police Department have no tolerance
for any member who violates our and the citizens’ trust. And
when an errant member does come to our attention, we expect that
member to answer for his actions and bear the resultant consequences.
What we do not expect, is to all be condemned and vilified along
with that offender.
The police are the most visible and most called upon entity of government
and society. Unlike EMS and Fire Fighters, who wait to be called
to work and do not scour the city actively looking for injured people
or fires, the police aggressively patrol the city to perform their
duties. They have been mandated by you, and all the citizens of
New Orleans, to aggressively ferret out and eliminate crime and
criminals from their midst.
Not only are the NOPD the busiest of the city’s Public Safety
services, they are arguably the busiest of any police agency in
the nation. If you were to perform a modicum of research on the
matter, you would be astounded at the number of calls for service
fielded by the NOPD daily, the number of arrests that are made,
the number of times each hour, our officers risk their own safety
to ensure yours. In the last week alone, I am aware of no less than
ten (10) people shot dead on our streets, and an additional ten
(10) more wounded, some of whom might not survive either. There
is no police agency in America called upon to combat crime this
intense, with only the most remedial of resources. The NOPD was
overwhelmed and lacking adequate support before Katrina, it was
decimated during Katrina, and has been nothing but neglected and
criticized since.
The NOPD has always been the agency everyone loves to hate. It is
easier to forget the officers who have been killed or grievously
wounded protecting our city. Easier to ignore the twelve hundred-plus
officers who stood fast and rescued hundreds of people from flood
waters and protected homes and businesses, even when 80% of them
had lost their own homes, and did not know whether their family
was safe, in favor of focusing on a few who chose not to stay or
failed to act honorably. And while we don’t deny there have
been some who have failed their sworn oath, we are equally aware
that they are the very few. There are many people who would not
be alive today, and what remained of the city after the storm would
not exist, save for the efforts of those you describe as having
the “reputation for thuggery”. We don’t expect
everyone to be wearing NOPD T-Shirts and ball hats, or be drinking
from NOPD coffee mugs, like everyone did for the NYPD after 9/11.
But a just little respect might not be out of line.
You allege that the department as a whole is somehow untrustworthy,
based upon the actions of a few of its members in instances of,
”… murder, aggravated rape, extortion, aggravated kidnapping,
conspiracy
to rob a bank, and somebody on the force has been booked with it.”
I think you overlooked the act of treason. I don’t believe
there has ever been an instance where a New Orleans police officer
was accused, much less convicted, of an act of treason. However,
one of the most respected law enforcement entities in the world,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in whom we all place our collective
trust, has a number of its former agents sitting in federal penitentiaries,
convicted of traitorous acts against the citizens of America. And
the FBI, by the way, is the agency that often investigates accusations
made against New Orleans police officers. In spite of the traitors
lurking within their rolls, however, I notice that you did not mention
having any trust issues with the FBI.
And whether one agrees with our presence in Iraq or not, there are
few people who do not respect and admire the sacrifices and courage
of our military forces nor question their patriotism or bravery.
However, just this week, there was a feature story in USA Today
in which a soldier has reported that the rape and unprovoked murder
of an Iraqi child and her civilian family was perpetrated by members
of his squad. The matter is under investigation. We have all read
of the issues at Guatanamo Bay, and even here in New Orleans, several
National Guardsmen were caught looting homes. But I don’t
recall reading of your shaken confidence in the National Guard prowling
our streets with fully automatic weapons and heavy armored vehicles.
By pointing out these instances I do not intend to impugn the integrity
of these fine institutions. On the contrary, the acts I mention
are isolated incidents and do not impeach the excellent character
of both the FBI and U.S. military, and the men and women who serve
so admirably in them. And that is the point. As a law enforcement
entity, the New Orleans Police Department is remarkably similar
to any large organization, and such, is subject to the same type
of problems. But it has an overwhelmingly consistent history and
heritage of heroism and dedication to public safety, as has been
demonstrated not only in the day to day sacrifices of its members
in individual instances of courage and service, but also en masse,
as in Hurricane Katrina and the Howard Johnson’s sniper incident
thirty years earlier.
“We should all be able to trust that our police officers are
honest and capable of
distinguishing criminals from everybody else.”
The overwhelming majority of New Orleans police officers have no
real good reason to stay here and continue to risk their lives under
the conditions they are forced to do so, but they stay anyway. Other
jurisdictions place significant value on the valor demonstrated
by those who have stayed and persevered. They regularly recruit
away our officers, and many have left for the rewards of greater
pay and benefits and better quality of life, some in nearby jurisdictions,
others across the country. But the majority of the NOPD remains
here, to stay and see it through, compelled by their dedication
to our city. As you challenge the police to be able to distinguish
“the criminals from everybody else”, YOU should be able
to distinguish those “honest and capable” officers from
the very, very few who demonstrate that they are not up to our standards.
It is irresponsible and inflammatory articles such as yours, that
are counter-productive to building a rapport between the police
and the citizens they are sworn to protect. You do not merely call
attention to issue of the public’s trust, you sabotage it
with mischaracterizations and shoddy research.
“This department frightens me…”
Your article reaches hundreds of thousands of people. Your liberty
to misrepresent the issue on such a large scale frightens me.
CLICK HERE TO READ the article by Jarvis
DeBerry
ONE NOPD
Mike Glasser
PANO President
504-416-0366
GlasserMD@aol.com
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