NYPD in Black and White

"What did you think of the shooting in the city the other day?" my friend on the other end of the line asked. He's a retired NYPD lieutenant with 20 years of service.

"What shooting?" I asked - me a retired NYPD detective shot in the line of duty in a bungled buy-and-bust narcotics operation.

"Where the cop shot the other cop," he said matter-of-factly.

"What??!!"

It was another case of white-cop-shoots-black-man - and not the first time in New York City history when the black man turned out to be another cop.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"Well," he said after a pause, "another inexperienced young Turk, lacking discretion and judgment, assigned to an anti-crime unit." It brought to mind the Diallo debacle, where four white cops assigned to a street crimes unit panicked and fired 41 shots at an unarmed black man, standing in the doorway of his home in the Bronx. Street crimes unit, anti-crime unit. The name may change but the game is the same.

Most white plainclothes police patrolling the streets of Harlem or the Bronx seem to take for granted that every black or Hispanic male "knows" they are cops, while at the same time assuming that just about every black or Hispanic male is a likely suspect of some misdeed. When I was on the force, cops responding to a call for police assistance in a dispute involving a white and black man would invariably approach the white guy asking, "What's the problem, sir?" I remember one black man saying shyly, "I am the one who called."

Officer Omar J. Edwards has been forever silenced. He is unable to defend himself against the unfair slights of posthumous revisionism, the blaming of the victim.

He was running with his gun drawn, the academic desk jockeys will say.

Officer Edwards had his gun drawn because he was dealing with a crackhead who had broken into his car. Sure, I know what the patrol guide says and what it doesn't say. But no self-respecting police officer is going to see his personal effects rifled and not take immediate action. The report seems to indicate that his shield was properly displayed.

He shouldn't have turned around when he heard someone tell him to stop and drop the gun, the cop self-defense mantra goes on.

Let's get real. Sure, the patrol guide mandates you "remain motionless when so ordered." But the average person is going to look to see who is giving the order.

(One night when I was on the force, I was on duty, wrestling a burglar to the ground, when an unmarked car swerved around the corner. I thought they were coming to assist me, but the two clowns who called themselves "cops" opened fire without saying a word. It was only their bad shooting and my quick response in hitting the ground, thanks to my military training, that saved my life. In the aftermath, after some clever writing and rewriting, they were promoted to detectives.)

And the question remains, was Officer Edwards given a chance to drop his gun before he was cut down in a hale of bullets?

Officer Omar J. Edward, father of two, young, proud, dedicated, still wearing his police academy tee shirt after two years on the job, lay dying on a New York City street, hands shackled behind his back. Mentally teetering between life and death, he was not consoled by his fellow officers to "Hold on, you're gonna make it." He was just another black "perp" victim of police indiscretion, and the higher command's inability or smug unwillingness to properly train and assign its officers.

I was not consoled by my fellow cops either, when I lay bleeding on a filthy tenement landing. No, the assurance came from an old man of color, soothing me and encouraging me to hold on. It felt good.

See huffingtonpost.com/new-york for more New York news and blogs

Comments

[Chazzam]

I think you mean "hail of bullets", not "hale of bullets"

[LongBeach5564]

THAT was your take-away? Really?

[Marnieblue]

Serpico Rulz!!!

[wsmcke]

One thing I have seen on the show "Cops", is that they get their man with out ever beating them up. The show films in the worst areas (crime) of the country, and the show has had many years behind it. When I see cops beating up someone, I now KNOW they do it for pleasure, and/or anger.

[Frenbar]

Have you considered the possibility the the police on "cops" know they are being filmed, and that's why they don't beat the suspects?

[princeofthecity]

i think wsmcke is right on, sure the cops know they are being taped. maybe that is why they dont beat the suspects. but lets look at it for what it is, exemplary of how the job of police officer should be done....at least i think. i mean, if it werent so exemplary the show wouldnt still be on, its actually pretty significant that it still is after so much time.

im not saying that they dont have footage thats questionable, and could if leaked probably lead to some penalties among some of these cops on the show. but what they air on the show is probably how the job is supposed to be done.

[rte148]

It's propaganda, they never show when things go sideways, ever.

[doug108]

Why is this necessarily a black/white thing, Mr. Serpico? What about the guy who shot a fellow officer? Does he have a family? Is his life changed forever? Why are the rationales you provided (guy running with a gun in his hand, turns to "look at" the officer giving him orders to drop the weapon) bad rationales for the shooting?

I don't know man. When I was a cop, if a fellow officer got into a shooting, you held your tongue. You tried to put yourself in his place. You tried to make sense of it from his point of view. You
didn't go shooting your mouth off, half cocked.

[transe]

i think his having been the victim of dirty cops makes him a little more sensitive to the whole issue.

[doug108]

I'm sure it does, but he scoffs at what are ordinarily justifiable reasons for shooting someone.

I'm arguing for imagining yourself in the position of the cop that did the shooting. Fellow cops keep their mouths shut, unless they have something to offer the investigation. Let the investigators do their job, and in a case like this, have some compassion for the guy who did the shooting.

[lady49]

In house conspiracy man... We see it all the time.

[lady49]

HELLO?

[clearthinker2008]

"Why is this necessarily a black/white thing, Mr. Serpico?"

I cannot take you seriously.

[AABrownA]

“When I was a cop, if a fellow officer got into a shooting, you held your tongue. You tried to put yourself in his place.”

That statement is exactly why I don’t like you cops. I thought you were suppose be on the side of justice, I didn’t know it was look out for my buddy kind of job. How about you try to put yourself in the place of your fellow DEAD cop? Or better yet, just imagine what your family would go through if another cop MURDERED you? Just like the Diallo case and the Bell case, the NYPD has the right to take innocent life and “so called cops” like you that defend the MURDER of the innocent sit by and cheer them on.

Way to go there officer!

[CantBelieve]

OMG. Exactly what I was thinking. My dad was NYPD for over 20 years and he always talked about justice for victims. It led me to belive that as a cop you're first thought should be about justice not about helping to get your fellow officer off.

[doug108]

I assure you I'm not against a thorough investigation. I'm all for arresting and/or firing cops who can't handle their authority.

Let's say you're the cop who shot and killed a fellow officer, though. Did you go to work hoping your day would end that way? I seriously doubt it. Keeping your opinions of a shooting to yourself is simple courtesy and compassion toward someone who is certainly going through hell, too.

[MrMas]

Why is Frank's insight "outdated"? because he's retired? because the shooting happened less than a month ago and there are still no acceptable answers? because he is trying to have a dialog about a very real problem in NYC?

Though you reference the patrol guide, you seem to forget that cops are given training, and are supposed to exercise restraint in stressful and dangerous situations. That's why we trust them to carry guns.

"Oops!" is not good enough. This is an all too familiar story, a la wallet resembling a gun. And even more astounding is the abundance of details in the absence of witnesses.

When was the last time you were in Harlem? Many (yes, MANY) of the cops on patrol here know nothing about the neighborhood, (let alone directions). They act as if everybody is a criminal. We are not. Little NY Times citations do not excuse irresponsible behavior on the part of police officers, and are not representative of the black or hispanic communities.

You should brush up on the facts before you open your mouth.

[Mydar]

St. Frank retired from the NYPD in 1972. In those intervening 37 years since St. Frank was an active duty officer, cultural policy, tactical elements have all substantially changed. Consider that fact brushed.

Define "all to familiar" The reference, I assume, is to the 1999 Diallo shooting. 10 years ago. After two days of deliberations, a mixed race jury unanimously voted to acquit the officers of all charges.

The NYPD patrol guide clearly defines what actions an officer should take when operating off duty while deploying a firearm. Turning towards or facing a MOS while deploying a firearm is expressly and specifically addressed.

I was born on and grew up on Tremont ave in the South Bronx, and still visit there -- know it well as I do Harlem. I was in Harlem about 6 months ago.

The citing of the NY Times article (did you read it) was to present evidence that a young Black male is responsible for a murder with a firearm 61% of the time in the period 2003 to 2009. Likelihood, probability, inference, trends, tendency is why you would not go to certain parts of Harlem at certain times of the day. It affects the judgment of humans. Did affect the judgment of the officers involved in the shooting of Officer Edwards, I would conject certainly it did.

[svBackstreets]

I was a Army Military Police lieutenant in Germany and I am a retired California probation officer.

After I was discharged from the Army I worked as a security officer for Pinkerton at the World's Fair. That was 1965. Many of the other Pinkerton "guards' were on the hiring list for the NYPD. Virtually all of them had friends, dads, brothers and cousins who were NYC police officers.

The discussions during breaks were amazing. They talked about precinct pads openly. The pad was the system of sharing graft. From listening to them you'd get the definite impression that being assigned to a narcotics unit was better than winning the lottery. The casualness of these conservations made you think that in many NYC neighborhoods the corruption in the NYPD was common knowledge.

That's what makes Frank Serpico such a singular person and a legitimate hero. He stood up and told the truth when shoulder to shoulder with thousands of brother officers who refused to do the same.

Thanks Frank.

[Mydar]

Thanks, St. Frank, for this outdated insight into the tragedy of Officer Edward's death.

Every day, the NYPD are out doing their jobs in a city of 8.3 million -- making split second, life and death decisions to protect a citizens. When the right decision is made -- the vast majority of the time -- there are no headlines. When the wrong decision is made, newspapers sell; marches held, and the monday morning quarterbacks scream, "RACISTS!" MURDERS!" in venues from handpainted signs to a Huffington Post blog. How courgaeous of them.

Does it occur to any of these internet heroes that if they feel so strongly they take the oath, wear the badge and take on the responsibility of making these types of decisions?

The NY Times recently published an analysis of homicides in New York from 2003 to the present. 90% of the perpetrators were identified as either black or Hispanic. In 69% a firearm was the weapon. So, you are a cop, and you confront a young black male, running with a gun, who quickly turns towards you after the order, "Police! Freeze!" This is not Hollywood.

According to St. Frank "the average person is going to look to see who is giving the order." No. What does the patrol guide say Frank?

St. Frank did his 13 years on the street, acknowledged. But it's been a long time since he had to yell "Police Freeze!" at an armed man. He should thank God he no longer has

[SpokenOnTheWheel]

Wow, aren't you a brave armchair officer Mydar? Tell us about YOUR experience on the hard streets... please. I love how tough on all those internet commentators you are, you must be a complete badass.

Your courage shines through as you hurl verbal slights at an experienced officer who was on the streets when New York had over twice the violent crime that it currently does. Forget his experience­... "St. Frank" you hiss and condescend. I'm so happy that you have allayed my fears that police don't have enough training or might have a bias. I don't believe that most cops are racists or bullies, but some of them are..

Blithely dismissing the concerns of citizens who think that the death could have been avoided takes great intestinal fortitude. Wow you closed the case! By stating that most of the people who are arrested are minorities­... it must have nothing to do with those doing the arresting and reporting. You'll find what you want in the numbers.

The NYPD has rejected applicants in the past for having IQs that were too high, I think you might make it though.

[BigBagel]

Could you provide a link to a news article about higher IQ individuals being rejected. I won't hold my breath.

[Nooneyouknow]

You're NYPD, right? Because this sounds like the rants that come around whenever another case of police brutality hits the news.
Cops protect citizens? Mostly, cops show up after the crime. Maybe the catch the perp, maybe they frame someone, like those kids jailed for the Central Park Jogger case.
When the right decision is made, the cops have done the job they're sworn to do. The wrong "decision"--like Bumpers or Dorismond--makes the news because it's news.
Cops get the benefit of the doubt in our society, and it's next to impossible to convict a cop of anything in NYC, particularly as the NYPD likes to retaliate against judges who convict cops.
As for joining the force, why would we? We pay cops to do their jobs. It's the job you took, not the ones we took. Everybody does their part in society, except when they don't. A running black man with a gun might be a perp, but he might be a cop--isn't it a cop's job to find out which before he starts shooting? Isn't that what the patrol guide says?
As for calling Serpico "St. Frank"--well, its says a lot that a cop who stood up to corruption and did the right thing would be sarcastically be called "saint" by a NY cop. After all, an honest cop would probably admire Serpico, not seek to tear him down and mock him.

[Frenbar]

I have many friends that are cops in New York City, and there are two reasons people become cops there.

Some of them want cushy high paying jobs as cops on Long Island, but there are long waiting lists, so they are merely there gaining experience while waiting for a spot to open.

The rest are people who just couldn't get a job doing anything else. Some of them are back from the army with PTSD and other mental problems, others are career petty criminals, and the rest are mostly young kids just out of high school with no other job prospects.

Both categories of cop just want to collect their paycheck and get home safe. They would much rather open fire first, and ask questions later, because its safer for them. They know the police union, the mayor, and the media will have their back.

So please stop pretending like cops are all self sacrificing saints that are doing some glorius service for the rest of us.

[jcadams]

Frenbar makes some disturbing observations. I live in the East Bay of San Francisco and have really never had a bad experience with a policeman. (But I am white, educated and has some experience interjecting respect into stressful situations­.) I have worked as a management consultant and know salary levels for college educated people in a variety of corporate disciples. Moreover in recent years --- in a private business setting --- I had the opportunity to interview several college-educated patrolmen who worked for different East Bay municipalities. Their total cash compensation with overtime, solid benefits and retirement was really excellent. Frankly much, much better than their college-educated "peers" in corporate America. And police are protected by really tough, effective unions. Conversely those college-educated types in corporate America are not protected by unions and can be easily terminated “at will” because of poor performance, an economic downturn, a merger, etc. And even policeman who make serious mistakes are well protected --- such as those NY officers who shot an unarmed black man 41 times! Moreover in some police departments the last 5 years of a patrolman’s tenure is spent with escalated service hours and overtime so the taxpayers can reward the retiree with an unnecessarily inflated pension. So the downturn in the Bay Area’s tech industry has prompted many to now consider police work.

[LuckyLT2]

Folks, he is not talking about a MOVIE!!!! He's writing about a REAL life event!!! UGH!!

[ImaVeteran]

kyraocity, You said it!

The frustration within these kids as to racism begins at home. Unfortunitly racism is within both white and black homes. Not to mention other races living anywhere in the world.

[papapj]

Racism is about power and the reinforcement of it. Though you may find some prejudice in Black households, you'll be hard pressed to find anybody protecting the racist White supremacy social structure. ...though it may appease your conscience to believe so....

[clearthinker2008]

co-signed. Ima is trying to feel good about racism by playing the "but they do it too"card. what the blank ever.

[1dogs2]

Hey, Paco. I'm happy to know you're alive and well.

An ex-NYer

[unami]

The old circuitry will still show its head.

[Artos]

I used to have more respect for cops once. I was even a cop sort of while serving in the Military. I worked as a Security Policeman at a Navy Base. Once while living in Sacramento I even assisted a cop in an apprehension of a running suspect. Over the years though I have seen so many cases of Cops behaving over the top when it comes to the way they deal with the public that I have lost the respect I once had. Nowadays I think that they have more often than not become nothing but Revenue agents for our local City governments. They seem to spend 98 percent of their time fishing for traffic fines. What happened to actually protecting the public instead of preying on them. We the public are your employers and we don't appreciate the lack of respect. Cops want, no demand respect to the point of getting into peoples faces when they don't automatically jump when told to. They also appear to be afraid of their own shadows anymore. Take for example the treatment of the 70+ year old woman tasered because she didn't move fast enough or the EMT who was being choked when he came out of the vehicle to talk to the cops. These are just two of many cases ,of cops abusing their positions of authority.

[fresno500]

What a crook article.

[dontpanic1]

Thank you for this article. Its a glimmer of light.

[bascombe]

thanks, Frank.
Honesty is so scarce these days.