A Patrolman's Promise, Unmet, Is Remembered

More than six years ago, the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, Patrick Lynch, promised to change a name that had begun to seem old-fashioned considering the thousands of women on the police force.

The September 11, 2001, death of Police Officer Moira Smith, the second policewoman to die in the line of duty, appeared to give the issue added urgency. A few months later a proposal to change the union's name to Police from Patrolmen's in her honor was put to a vote by union delegates. The proposal was narrowly defeated. Since then, contract negotiations have consumed union leadership and members, and the issue has faded. Meanwhile, the number of uniformed women on the force dropped slightly, to 6,234 as of last month, or 17.5% of the total force, from 6,349 in September 2001, or about 15.6% of the force, which was larger at the time.

At a low-key ceremony yesterday outside a public library in Smith's native Bay Ridge, she was honored as a State Senate Woman of Distinction as her family and public officials remembered her bravery on the day of the terrorist attacks. Commissioner Raymond Kelly attended and recalled how she led hundreds of people from the World Trade Center's south tower to safety before she went back for one more, seconds before the building collapsed.

They also remembered Mr. Lynch's promise.

"Patty once said he was going to do it. I take him at his word that he'll do it at some point," Smith's husband, James, a retired police officer, said, referring to Mr. Lynch.

"If they do it because of Moira, I'm all for it, but they should do it because it's the right thing to do." The family members who wiped away tears and laughed at memories of Smith yesterday seemed more puzzled than angry about the delay.

One female detective, who did not give her name because of police department policy, said she could not believe that the union's name had not yet been changed. "It thought it was changed decades ago," she said, urging her questioner to double-check whether it had.

The PBA confirmed — as does its Web site and letterhead — that the P does indeed stand for Patrolmen's.

A spokesman for the union, Albert O'Leary, said Mr. Lynch has been focused on negotiating contracts and "the constitutional rights of our members," a reference to a lawsuit filed this week against a new police department alcohol testing policy.

"There are other things on the plate," he said, noting that Mr. Lynch made an attempt to change the name, as he promised. He added that Mr. Lynch had not renewed the promise in subsequent campaigns.

"He had done what he said he was going to do," he said.

Mr. Kelly said the union's name was "up to them." The police department switched to the use of police officer from patrolman nearly three decades ago.

Senator Martin Golden, a former police officer who presided over yesterday's ceremony honoring Smith, said he remembered a time when reporters asked him whether women should be allowed on the force at all.

"That was a long time ago," he said, adding that his answer at the time had been yes. "I guess it's time to be more gender neutral."