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.

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Comments

[ProgressiveActivistLib]

Nice piece. However, you wrote: "And the question remains, was Officer Edwards given a chance to drop his gun before he was cut down in a _hale_ of bullets?"

Try hail.

hale, adj.: Free from infirmity or illness; sound; exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health ("Hale and hearty")

hail, noun: Something that falls with the force and quantity of a shower of ice and hard snow: a hail of bullets; a hail of criticism.

[bnww]

It was just a typo, give it a rest.

[lokipuck]

They don't come any pettier than you.

[1logicalthinker]

I have been a fan of Frank Serpico ever since my first reading of the best selling book, "Serpico," written by Peter Maas and published in 1973. The film, "Serpico," is one of my all time favorites. He has been my role model and inspiration regarding ethical conduct for over 35 years.

Had the majority of people followed Frank's example for integrity and honesty, perhaps this country would find itself in a much stronger position today. It is nice to hear from Frank again. We desperately need more people like him.

[TriniDva]

This is why so many people dislike and/or don't trust cops (aka Babylon). Not all cops are bad, but who knows if the one approaching you is good or bad. NYPD lives by one motto, "Shoot first, ask questions later" - sad, but true. It is a continuous reminder that most of the NYPD force is apparantly trained to suspect minorities. Worse than that, it is likely they will get away with it because they usually do.

[BarryChamplain]

It's an honor to see you here, speaking truth to rampant inanity.

You need to emphasize that in New York City (if not everywhere else, but I don't live everywhere else, so I can't speak credibly), it is simply not possible to run for or hold public office, without rubber-stamping each and every one of the routine criminal acts by cops, which are protected by the police culture. Permanent open season on Black men? Has been approved.

You do not question the NYPD; you do not convict when (infrequently) indicted. Or Patrick Lynch will turn you into Osama Bin Benedict Arnold, and the gushing mass media will tearfully trot-out stories of brave, dead (white) cops, and give him all the microphone-and-camera he needs.

The Edwards case poses a real cunumdrum: does NYPD once again stroke the cop culture and defend the cop who is lying dead on the ground? Or the White Cop, who murdered him?

I think we can pretty much guess where the law of priorities falls, in a situation like this: you're one of Us... but the White Cop is more Us than you are... so you lose, pal.

[The Albany Kid]

What a shame that not even *Black cops* are safe from police brutality. As a Black boy, incidents like this (and incidents such as the arrest of the surviving *victims* of the Howard Beach incident) definitely figured into my mental calculus when people asked me "What do you want to be when you grow up?".

Sadly, the Officer Edwards tragedy is nothing new in NYC.

Does anyone know of any similar misdeeds in majority Black cities such as Baltimore and Detroit?

[Muad Dib]

I don't know how old you are, but look up the Stewart murder case. I think it was in New York. I will look it up for you if your having trouble.

[The Albany Kid]

Oh yes, the Michael Stewart case. I was a teen at the time, but I remember it. How sad, but how typical of NYC in the 80s (and of today too, based the cases of Officer Edwards and Sean Bell).

Thanks for offering to look up the case for me; I appreciae that.

[Ohioan730]

Just wanted to say Frank Serpico is one of the people who remind me that the world may not be so bad. Thank you for speaking out then and now.

[Galloviejo]

Damn smart move, LMPE.

They are armed and dangerous.

[LMPE]

I never trust the cops.

[Dark Sphere]

I agree with that statement. I have been told by various cops not to trust the police. I carry a gun in my car, I have a concealed carry license, and was told by a cop to never tell a cop, when pulled over, that I have a gun in the car. He said, you never know if the cop would try to plant something on you because some cops don't like citizens (legally or not) carrying guns...

[katielady]

Dark sphere, guns are legal here.. and I can shoot very well on a range.

BUT, there was a study and an experiment in Bethlehem, Pa, shown on tv, that showed people are more a danger to themselves when they have a gun.

What would happen if you accidentally hit a member of your family or another innocent???/.