Will NYC Kelly’s Cops Finally Meet Hire And Fire?

In a change of policy that is truly shocking on the surface, the Police Commissioner in New York City in has decided to allow the civilian review board to charge and prosecute some cases of police misconduct, those where the cop was deemed to have committed misconduct. Read It Here.

“Deemed To Have Committed”

Magic words, aren’t they? While encouraged by the announced change, this is another “throw ‘em a bone” move by Commissioner Raymond Kelly. So, let’s see here…. the citizens won’t just investigate, they won’t just recommend, they will prosecute as well. OK, as long as that means carrying out the discipline, up to and including termination if the board deems it necessary to protect the public from the misconduct the cop perpetrated against a citizen. But “deemed to have committed”? Deemed by whom? Commissioner Kelly? Another non-citizen body? Let’s leave the deeming to the citizens. Only then will Kelly’s promise be worth his expelled breath.

Mayor Domenic Sarno of Springfield MA blew this same smoke, so did Baltimore Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld III. Second-hand smoke is offensive, but we’re up to third-hand now, and the air is definitely getting funky.

Neither Sarno or Bealefeld have gotten anywhere with the smoke trick. Why should Kelly?

Why?

The whole reason for a review board is to shield the public from the effects of the lies and delusions cops suffer from every day, (cops are always right, cops own us, cops are the law, etc). Case in point, the Atlanta woman who was arrested for asking why she was being told to move along. Cop answer? “Because I said so.” Read About It. And Here's More.

This crap isn’t just in Atlanta, it is everywhere there is a cop working the streets. Cops get away with anything they are allowed to get away with, just like a young child with absentee parents. The Atlanta review board is no better than the NYC board because they do not have hire & fire, and it shows in daily cop antics, as displayed by Brandy Dolson of the Atlanta PD. With H&F, a cop would save the smart mouth for friends and relatives, or lose employment. The decision to get courteous and stay there would be easy and swift.

With Commissioner Kelly implying power to the review board for the purpose of determining the outcome of police misconduct is a good promise, but the real proof will be when a guilty cop is totally adjudicated by the civilian board from start to finish, found guilty of misconduct, and fired. Not to make him a sacrificial lamb, but to prove to the people of NYC that a civilian board’s decisions are real and will stick.

Commissioner Kelly, go big or go home. Don’t throw a bone to the citizens, give them the solution they deserve, and start today with cases you have on the books today. Hire and Fire in a Civilian Review Board is the answer, and you need to step up.