December 30, 1998---As stated here in an earlier Police Review's "Newsnotes," the organization Amnesty International released a "report" on police brutality in the USA. Tonight, on the Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Combs" talk show, the head of A.I., William Schultz had to bob and weave when asked the same questions by Sean Hannity that Prosay asked when the report first came out: what happend to the evidence that showed that some of the police actions were justified? What about the fact that independent witnesses tell a different story than the press reported about some of the incidents? Schultz almost said that he either did not read the the report or had anything to do with its preparation, but stopped quickly, referring to A.I.'s "37 year history" of 'investigating' abuses by government...but had no answer for Hannity. The only thing that Prosay is upset about is that Fox gave A.I. a place to air its nonsense.
December 28, 1998---WABC-AM radio in NYC has finally seen the light, and given our favorite ex-mayor to criticize, Ed Koch, his walking papers! Koch announced his departure today, effective on December 31. As followers of this Site know, Koch, who lets himself be known as "the voice of reason," and "a friend of the cops...", is neither. Koch has been out of elected politics over ten years, but you would think that he was on the next ballot. This "friend of the cops" has used the term "racist" in one general description of police officers, has flipped-flopped on several police-related matters, and even changed his support for the adolescent president, from potential loss of Koch's support, to outright "Vote Democrat; support the president," in the last election. Prosay is open-minded enough to let anyone have his say, but inconsistant banter to appease whomever happens to be listening is where we draw the line. Koch's most recent guffaw is hooking up with that other voice of unreasonableness, Al Sharpton, in one of those liberal-minded, feel-good, projects. This union shows that WABC knew what they were doing in dropping Koch. Sharpton was the one that stood on 125th St. and called the Jewish store owners there "interlopers," right before some psycho ran into a store that Big Al was picketing and shot the place up and setting it on fire, killing eight. The psycho was seen previously on Sharpton's picket line. This episode didn't slow Al down, as he ran for United States Senator from NY, despite his mailing address being "Englewood, NJ." Why our former mayor has allowed himself to be used in such a way, and remain consistantly inconsistant, is a question for the professionals. Koch can still be read in one NYC newspaper, but at least a proof reader will catch any of his flip-flopping before it reaches print.
December 02, 1998---At a recent "Job Fair" at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a recruitment table was set up by the Las Vegas, Nevada, Police Department, who were there looking to sign up some seasoned officers from the NYPD, but would be willing to talk to those just looking into a law enforcement career now for the first time. The starting salary is $37G's and NO STATE INCOME TAX! That, in itself, should be a deciding incentive. Also, unlike NYC and its politicians, there is big community support for the police. Again, as Prosay had said once before for a Florida job, there is no age limit in the LVPD, so if you got fifteen years in, or twenty years hasn't done a number on you, you may want to consider going out there with all that experience under your well-worn gunbelt. We don't have a contact number on this one, but we're sure a call to the LVPD itself would point any interested recruit in the right direction.
November 24, 1998---Newsday reports that they received a copy of the NYPD Firearms Discharge Assault Report, which shows that, although "Shooting incidents" are down (from 318 in '96, to 253 in'97), the number of officers "Wounded by Suspect" is up, from 15 in both '95 and '96 to 23 in '97! Obviously, this tells a bigger story. One officer has been killed by his failure to react properly in a life-and-death situation, and the number of injured cops are up from gunfire from perps, reflecting the political fear that cops have in doing their sworn and legal duty when faced by an armed perp. A TV news show did a story on this report, and the 'talking head' the was reading the script read the first part about cops being hit by gun fire, then went on to say, "The good news is....", that fewer 'civilians' (read "perpertrators") have been shot by cops. As long as it's only cops being shot, it's good news.
November 17, 1998---The New York Times today headlines a story, "Cyclist Who Died After His Arrest Is Mourned," referring to the arrest made by a cop in the 25 Pct. who threw his radio at him to stop him from fleeing. The headline isn't quite accurate, however, and the Times story buries the truth in the last column of the story. The "cyclist" was arrested for possession of drugs and possession of a box cutter, a weapon. Obviously, the headline should have read, "Neigborhood Mourns Drug Dealer Injured While Escaping From Police." It's unfortunate that he died from his injuries, but NYS Law clearly states that an officer can use necessary force to stop the escape of an offender. There was a time in the job when a cop was commended for displaying accuracy in the use of his night stick to prevent escapes. The politically correct thing to do today is to just let the perp go, regardless of what the law says. But, then again, purjury before a Federal Grand Jury is not only tolerated, but applauded these days.
November 14, 1998---Reuters News Agency reports that a dispute in a bus terminal in Communist China over the use of a pay toilet resulted in two DOA's by local province police. Apparently, the crowd in the terminal were stopped by the bus terminal authorities from using the toilet without paying a fee before hand. Things got rowdy, the cops were called, and, apparently unable to handle the crowd, the cops fired some shots. While the people involved planned to demonstrate (over the charges for the use of the toilet), there will probably be no ramifications against the police. People in the U.S. should only realize how the police in non-democratic countries literally get away with murder, and Americans (or those living here legally and illegally)should not be too quick to bad mouth a cop that give you a speeding ticket.
November 11, 1998---The Bergen Record, the historically anti-cop newspaper based in Hackensack, NJ, does a story today about a carjacking team that was caught in the act by an armed "special officer" in Newark. The victim of the carjacking, according to the Record, had his arm caught in the window of his car, as the carjackers drove away. The officer, on patrol in a nearby housing project, saw the robbery and fired a shot to attempt to stop the car from dragging the victim. The results were that the back window was blown out, and the female of the team was shot in the head and was later found DOA in the car on the George Washington Bridge, but her male partner somehow escaped off the bridge. As serious as the carjacking story is, with the almost death of an innocent victim being dragged by the perps, the Record chosed to concentrate on the actions, background, and training of the officer, and whether his actions were legally correct. The fact that the background of the DOA was much more questionable, with amounts of drugs on her person, was inconsequential to the Bergen County rag. The Newark Police Department Internal Affairs investigated the incident even though the officer was not a member of the Newark Police, but was quick the defend the officer's actions by reporting at the press conference, "If your life is in danger, or someone else's life is in danger, you're entitled to use that firearm." Prosay can only imagine how Howie Safir would have bumbled, bobbed, and weaved, and eventually found fault with the officer's actions if the officer was an actually member of the NYPD. The bosses of the Newark PD should be applauded for standing up for someone that legally did what he had to do.
November 9, 1998---Thirty-seven potential candidates for the Port Authority Police are suing the PA for cancelling a police recruit class that they were apparently called for. According to the Associated Press, some of the group quit jobs in anticipation of being hired as cops, and are suing for appointment to the next class (whenever it is) as well as back pay. There was also reports that the class was cancelled because the earlier reported "patronage appointment" of PA cops put those that were selected by PA Commissioners in classes that filled the requirement for additional personnel. The PA denies all of this, saying that there was no official offer of employment to the candidates. Without seeing the lawsuit, Prosay believes that the 37 don't really have a case. But if the PA looses this one, it will be the second big money loss for the PA over police personnel. Several years ago, the PA had to promote a group of black Sergeant candidates who won in Federal Court, and had to pay out big retro money, as well as retro seniority for the new Sergeants.
