General Discussion

branford

(4,462 posts)

30. The police are employed by the city, and answer to the police commissioner,

Tue Jan 13, 2015, 04:16 AM

Jan 2015

not the mayor. No police officer, or any other public employee, no less an independent organization like a union, is required to be loyal or subservient to any mayor, whether its the current NYPD and Mayor deBlasio, or the past teachers union and Mayor Giuliani. They are entitled to both "rebel" and turn their backs on the mayor. The police are not the military. They are civilian, unionized, public employees with all the protections, constitutional, statutory and contractual, inherent therein.

Nevertheless, if you want to criticize the statements or political positions of the PBA or other NYPD unions, or even ways to reform or improve police procedures and behavior, I not only have no objections, but I might very well agree with some of your suggestions. My concerns are about judging thousands of police officers because of the conduct of a few and questioning the legitimacy of police unions because they hold or espouse positions you or others do not agree with.

Lastly, the police unions do not discriminate against people of color, individual officers do so. The unions engage in collective bargaining, representing and advocating for police officers, and other related labor activities. The union is a private organization that does not engage in any actual policing. It is very important to distinguish the differences among the police unions, individual officers and the police department itself. You should additionally note that about half the NYPD are minorities, particularly the patrol officers represented by the PBA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Police_Department

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A comment I just posted to a NY Times article about de Blasio's "missteps" [View all] markpkessinger Jan 2015 OP

K & R. n/t FSogol Jan 2015 #1

good comment raging moderate Jan 2015 #2

oh, there it is. rec'd. raging moderate Jan 2015 #3

Excellent letter. Jackpine Radical Jan 2015 #4

Nice! daleanime Jan 2015 #5

This is why people hate unions. staggerleem Jan 2015 #6

The police union is a "union" in name only nichomachus Jan 2015 #11

A union does not lose legitimacy, legal or moral, because you do not like their politics. branford Jan 2015 #12

People hate unions because employers tired of paying union wages invested a lot in merrily Jan 2015 #29

reading the article most of the complaints are ridiculous dsc Jan 2015 #7

Right after the PBA apologizes for killing unarmed black men. (nt) jeff47 Jan 2015 #10

Who exactly did the PBA kill? branford Jan 2015 #13

They are claiming to speak for the officers jeff47 Jan 2015 #14

Should all unions apologize when a member commits a bad act, or only the police unions? branford Jan 2015 #19

When they murder people and then demand reverence, yes. jeff47 Jan 2015 #20

You apparently only like unions when you agree with them. branford Jan 2015 #21

In this case, the union is acting like a bunch of spoiled children. They are offended because JDPriestly Jan 2015 #25

Yeah, that's why I totally left out destroying the NYPD jeff47 Jan 2015 #52

The union has the right to defend its member especially if it argues that the charge against the JDPriestly Jan 2015 #27

The police are employed by the city, and answer to the police commissioner, branford Jan 2015 #30

The police should respect the mayor as an elected official. JDPriestly Jan 2015 #33

The NYPD actually has a higher approval rating than the mayor. branford Jan 2015 #37

Great letter. They are like whining two year olds and all they've done so far is prove that we sabrina 1 Jan 2015 #8

this goes back to any worker hfojvt Jan 2015 #9

Good points. And if the NYPD's tantrum was about not being appreciated, that would be JDPriestly Jan 2015 #24

it's sometimes hard to tell if criticism is "justified" hfojvt Jan 2015 #55

The very sensitive NYPD except when they have victims in an illegal choke hold. Cha Jan 2015 #15

You have to wonder . . . markpkessinger Jan 2015 #17

Exactly.. I know they have a tough job but they make it tougher on themselves. Cha Jan 2015 #18

K & R Liberal_Dog Jan 2015 #16

k&r.... the mayor's only missteps are not firing some of these goons. spanone Jan 2015 #22

Fire them, for exercising their First Amendment rights against a politician? merrily Jan 2015 #31

First amendment doesn't protect you as far as keeping your job goes. Lucky Luciano Jan 2015 #47

It most certainly does if you are a public employee, as are the police. nt branford Jan 2015 #48

That is not the first amendment then. That may be a separate contractual thing Lucky Luciano Jan 2015 #49

The First Amendment does indeed apply to public employees, branford Jan 2015 #53

That is all very unfortunate. Lucky Luciano Jan 2015 #54

The First Amendment, among other things, prevents the government branford Jan 2015 #56

If you work for the government, it does--and should. merrily Jan 2015 #51

K&R. JDPriestly Jan 2015 #23

The Mayor acts for the taxpayers, who are the employers of both the Mayor and the NYPD. merrily Jan 2015 #32

Not the taxpayers, the voters. All the voters who hopefully are all the people. JDPriestly Jan 2015 #35

Typically, your employer is the one whose money pays your salary. merrily Jan 2015 #36

K&R DeSwiss Jan 2015 #26

I love this cartoon for many reasons, one of them being that a family merrily Jan 2015 #34

The back turning was strictly for the cameras, branford Jan 2015 #38

Inside or outside, it was still a family funeral and protests were inappropriate, IMO. merrily Jan 2015 #39

I'm not defending the actions by the officers, branford Jan 2015 #40

Sure seemed as though you were, as do most of your other posts about the police, merrily Jan 2015 #41

Acknowledging that the police have a legal right as citizens and unionized public employees branford Jan 2015 #42

Straw man. That is not what you said, nor did I say a thing about police not having a legal right merrily Jan 2015 #43

If you've followed my posts about the NYPD, as you seem to indicate, branford Jan 2015 #44

I have not followed your posts, but I have noted several of them while reading a few police threads merrily Jan 2015 #45

The only union I've seen you supporting are the cops, I don't remember your outcry as our own party TheKentuckian Jan 2015 #57

Not sure what your repeating those points after I've addressed each of them is supposed to merrily Jan 2015 #46

the cops don't love bill anymore. boohoo ND-Dem Jan 2015 #28

lol Love it. ctsnowman Jan 2015 #50