Difficult Challenges

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

This week, for the first time in its history, the party of Abraham Lincoln visits the birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt for their quadrennial nomination of a presidential candidate. Although the Republican Party has a rich heritage in New York City, some vocal residents and their allies have done their best to make our out-of-town guests feel unwelcome. The New York City Police Department, at the conclusion of a long, hot summer, finds itself faced with a challenging task in unique times.


Protests have always been a part of the city’s beautiful urban landscape. On any given day, citizens assemble for a number of different causes or concerns without even a hint of civil disturbance or mass unrest. In turn, the police are often an unnoticed part of this metropolitan setting, there to protect protesters who wish to exercise their First Amendment rights uninterrupted as well as to provide security for residents who live and work in the area.


During a five-hour march past Madison Square Garden last Sunday, protesters estimated at 250,000-strong were mostly peaceful in their opposition to the administration of President Bush and the war in Iraq. In a glowing example of the Constitution at work, police once again provided security for a demonstration expressing a wide range of views.


Yet some protesters have heralded the First Amendment for guaranteeing their own freedom of speech while they have forgotten that the same constitutional right protects the Republicans to speak here as well.


Certain participants in this demonstration and others in the days to follow decided that malevolent means would justify ambiguous ends. Actions ranging from rudeness to felony assault have done more to mar their cause than to help it. In a time when protest organizers should be voicing their own concerns about this dangerous behavior we have heard only silence. Why should the police have a monopoly over disapproval of a small group that hijacked the intent of a quarter-million protesters when they burned a paper dragon and injured a police officer trying to put out the flames?


On Monday, the first night of the Republican National Convention, a detective sustained serious injuries while being punched and kicked by a group of demonstrators. Videotape of the attack shows a woman wearing a hat associating herself with the National Lawyers Guild standing by as the officer is pummeled. Her role at the protest was to document police brutality against the group. It is interesting to note her silence now that the opposite has actually taken place. Who among us would find satisfaction with a group that preaches peace while sending a police officer to the hospital?


Fox News Channel has also been the object of remarkably callous hostility from protesters. It has come to the point that in order to continue reporting despite the belligerent jeers and flying debris, their logo had to be removed from microphones carried by reporters in the streets surrounding the world’s most famous arena. This may be because those who have little to say in a debate often shout the loudest. Yet, how could these protesters demand their undeterred freedom of speech while hindering freedom of the press?


The NYPD and the Republican Party were born just nine years apart, in 1845 and 1854, respectively. In a quasi-kinship, Republicans in New York City have felt for the past week what police officers have felt for years: A small group of vocal citizens do not want either of us here. Yet here we remain all the same.


Police of the NYPD are called New York’s Finest because they have earned the moniker. Respect in this city is not doled out liberally but earned every day, every hour, and every minute. New Yorkers, as they should, demand courtesy and professionalism from the police. Yet much greater leeway is given to those citizens who enjoy the benefits of their policing.


To some it would seem a difficult proposition to welcome both a political convention and the protesters that such an event inevitably attracts. Even Mayor Koch pleaded with New Yorkers: “Be nice.” But New York City, unlike any other place, thrives on overcoming what many would consider insurmountable.


In the end, once the smoke has cleared and the delegates and protesters have left via separate paths to embrace separate causes, the police officers of the NYPD will remain. Tested throughout history, the men and women of the NYPD have confronted difficult challenges before and they will confront them again. We can only pray that this time the preparations for a war promised by professional agitators and the inviting of the potential for terrorist activity will end in peace.


The New York Sun

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