I wish it was that easy. Most people aren't aware how the cops work. The chief of police of any given jurisdiction is not really a law enforcement position. It's a political position. The chief answers to and takes direction from the county/town/city councils/mayors on how the department enforces the law. There are still places in this country where the prime focus is speed traps solely for the revenue. Do a search with the terms "cops told to stand down". The first few results will be from Charlottesville and Baltimore, but you will get results from all across the country about incidents you've never even heard of. It's also a bit infuriating.
I will say the cops that had water thrown on them showed an immense amount of restraint and should be commended for such. Having a liquid thrown on you is an assault, especially if the recipient is a law enforcement officer(LEO) and the cops were definitely told how to deal with it from higher up
Hey Alta! How ya been.
Appreciate the response and will check into your info on the stand down matter. I may have a lengthier response here, buddy, so I beg your indulgence.
I, like you, see the importance in staying on top of today’s news, and since we’ve shared a few brews together, and had some decent conversations, you’re somewhat familiar with where I stand on today’s ever changing issues.
I’m aware of the many “big city mayors”, all across our great nation, who have issued formal, stand down/increased restraint orders, or similar versions of it, to their respective police departments.
Portland, Seattle, LA, NYC, Baltimore, etc...the list goes on and on!
I’ve come to understand these orders to generally mean an overall practice of higher TOLERANCE, especially in group demonstrations, as they begin to morph into getting out of hand.
Essentially, looting, lesser level physical altercations between opposing sides, property destruction, and the like, are more loosely looked at, at that moment, with the idea of keeping the relative peace, as the better option, rather than a potential instigation to a bigger riot! I do get it!
A quick glance at the evening news, most any night, will confirm the overall, subdued action, by authorities in these situations.
What I haven’t heard of, is any order where police are to stand down to ASSAULTS directed at themselves personally!
Lets take the “water” part out of the situation, just to make a clearer point.
I haven’t heard of any order given, where police are to stand down if they are personally assaulted by an individual, or group, for political purposes or otherwise!
In fact, it is often the “go signal”, for fellow officers to take physical action in these situations.
We see all the time, cops chasing a lone protester, who managed to affect a lucky, sneaky, strike on an officer, then attempting to dash off into the crowd.
This person will be singled out for foot pursuit, his description being radioed out quickly, and is DIFFERENTIATED, from other protesters who, although may be wreaking some small havoc of their own, DID NOT, assault a cop!
Any stand down order of this type would lead, obviously, to a heyday of hundreds of daily assaults, where the thousands of proud, cop haters, that occupy our city streets, would have a field day, WITHOUT REPERCUSSION, as they smacked, and beat cops, who have been ordered to stand down!
It’s absurd on its face and doesn’t happen!
Now, let’s go back to “water”. The critical point here is WHEN the first NYC incident, made the news!
THEN, I believe, just shortly AFTER it made national headlines, NYPD, was then told to stand down to FUTURE occurrences of this type by DeBlasio.
Why???
I dont believe at all that it was because the department wanted to “de-escalate” any potential physical retaliation from their officers “practicing restraint”.
On the contrary, consider this...
This first incident caught on video, like anything else, is almost NEVER the first actual time this issue had occurred. When you catch a shoplifter on video, believe me, they have shoplifted MANY times before EVER getting caught! SO...
It’s logical to assume that there had been at least several of these “watering” incidents, before the first one finally got caught on video. AND within the department, privately amongst themselves, THEY KNEW, that a few of these cops DID NOTHING, to take action against their perpetrators!
We can easily assume also, that this would have caused some conflict between some of the officers that were more old school, and those officers who may have sympathized with their fellow cops who had backed down!
Ok, now, hang in there with my point here, if you can.
When it thusly became exposed nationally on the news, and therefore a potential embarrassment to the NYPD, you can bet that there were IMMEDIATE calls from NYPD brass, to these officers supervisors. They would have inquired as to what the hell was happening out there.
It’s easy to imagine the conversation. These low level supervisors would have mentioned that, hey, we’ve had a few of these incidents, and in a couple of them, our boys are WALKING AWAY, and not taking action! It’s a problem internally also, but whaddya want me to do. I’m not out there with them, at the moment, so I can’t make them take action! (Or some conversation along these lines).
Additionally, you would have had some of the tougher, old school cops, giving these guys crap about being afraid, or at least unwilling to take action! These rougher cops would have said that THEY are put in more JEOPARDY, for their lives, by these cops inaction!
Bottom line, I believe, is that word got back to the higher ups in NYPD, that they may have a small number of cops who are intimidated by these folks on the street, and therefore reluctant, or afraid, to act.
So while the department, through re-training or whatever, is deciding just how to handle this issue, they, after the fact, and with prior knowledge of similar, unpublicized incidents, issue an advisory to stand down to these watering incidents, specifically, to the NYPD, department wide.
This action, more importantly, gives an “out”, to any NYPD cop, who may be afraid, or intimidated, and to the entire NYPD, to “save face”, and not be dangerously regarded by those on the street, as having cops in their neighborhood, who may be afraid to deal with them! That would be catastrophic to the actual enforcement of the law itself, in these areas!
It would be absurd and suicidal, for any public official to announce a stand down order, specifically to any personal assault on an officer, in the inner city of any major metropolitan area, period!
I know there have been all kinds of crazy advisories, issued by these soft ass, big city mayors, and police chiefs, playing, and pandering to big political persuasions, and I don’t like it, one bit!
But no order, I’ve ever heard of, for officers to stand down, specifically, to personal assault!
Alta, my friend, if you know of one such order, in that specificity, I would sincerely appreciate being made aware of it.
What will NYPD do when the water, turns to other liquids like muriatic acid, or bricks!
This is a temporary face saver, for a very few, (hopefully), cops that need to realize they need to man up, like the rest of the “brave boys in blue”, that they work alongside with!
Also, since we can almost be sure that there were prior water incidents, what are the chances that a few of the cops actually DID, handle their business, and dish out a little respect to some of these lil’ bastards! I’d say there’s a damn good chance that has happened!
Furthermore, if it occurs again, to one of these braver cops, who NOW, has to stand down, then they actually WOULD be practicing the very “immense restraint” you so rightly speak of! And yes, they SHOULD be commended!
I compare this more to men in combat, on the grueling front lines, who have to deal with a soldier in their foxhole that refuses to fight. He impairs the collective effort of his buddies!
You’re a good man, Alta, and I like you.
We’ve talked enough, I feel, that you should know I am extremely PRO law enforcement! And if I’m right, this behavior, by just a few on the force, puts cops in MORE danger!
I’m sincerely open to more info, if you have it, as I view you as having quite a good handle on today’s issues.
Just askin’ for some similar respect, after you finish reading this post, whether you agree or not, as I hope to have at least demonstrated some slightly, deeper thought, and reasoning, for my way of thinking!
That it, simple-mindedly, may not have been “so easy” to conceive, as the first sentence of your post suggests!
AND that I just might NOT, be in that category of “most people”, that “aren’t aware of how cops work”, as the second sentence of your post suggests!
We cool?
All good by me, buddy
Rush
