Gotham City or Dodge City?

The most important war New York City is waging today takes place on its streets, and here, the frontline infantry wears blue.Make no mistake about it: This war is escalating. The officers of the New York City Police Department face increasingly hostile forces committed to rendering them and their mission ineffective.New York’s Finest face well-organized special interest groups and community coalitions that spew vitriol and hatred toward the department at carefully staged demonstrations and press conferences.These rallies have become all too sad and all too common. Attend one of them and one might think that officers here have succeeded in creating a police state. Another conclusion might be that officers are so cavalier with their sidearms that Gotham has become a latter day Dodge City.The Reverend Al Sharpton, the grand master of such made-for-TV demonstrations, abruptly canceled an appearance at the Oxford Union debating club last week in favor of attending what appeared to be an anti-police rally … the purpose of which was to support future anti-police rallies.Whether limelight-seeking characters like Mr. Sharpton realize this or not, it is a well-established fact that a strong police presence in any community, and especially the poorest ones, keeps criminals at bay and protects the lives of those living there.Of course, there are occasional calamities that feed the machine of anti-law enforcement activism. The police commissioner of New York City, Raymond Kelly, attempted to explain to a crowd of outraged Brooklyn residents yesterday that the five police officers who fired a total of 20 bullets at 18-year-old Khiel Coppin had no choice but to do so.Few events are more heart wrenching than the tragic shooting death of an 18-year-old boy who wielded nothing but a black hairbrush. But by most accounts, the boy, who authorities say was carrying no less than four suicide notes, yelled repeatedly to policemen that he had a gun.Another unfortunate incident: An off duty policeman was in a traffic dispute last month with a young man who allegedly pretended to reach for a weapon and reportedly said: “I have a new Ruger for you.” The officer fatally shot the young man, who, as it turned out, was not carrying a weapon.Activists — including, you guessed it, Mr. Sharpton — wasted no time crucifying the officer in a staged demonstration as if he were some sort of cold-blooded killer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Police officers receive annual training in the use of firearms, from revolvers and 9mm sidearms to the more specialized weapons required to win the war on terror.The good news here is that officers, by and large, have yet to be discouraged by the endless torrent of activists out to destroy their credibility and end the use of these crime deterrents.“Criticism of the police has not impacted shooting tactics by police, but training has,” the deputy police commissioner, Paul Browne, told The New York Sun. “Over the years, the NYPD has demonstrated increased restraint.”Odd. You don’t hear that at any of these rallies.Consider the fact that this city’s police force has the lowest ratio of fatal shootings of suspects to officers compared to all other large police departments across America.It wasn’t always the case. Back in 1973, there were 54 fatal shootings of suspects by a New York police force of 29,665. That’s 1.82 shooting deaths per 1,000 officers.Last year, 13 fatal shootings among 36,141 officers resulted in 0.36 fatalities per 1,000 officers. The year before that, the rate had sunk to 0.25 shooting deaths for every 1,000 cops – a rate so low that it has not been seen at any other point during the last three decades.Something many Americans have lost sight of (or, for whatever reason, have never learned in the first place) is that during a time of war, tradition dictates that it is the duty of every American citizen to support the troops in the field, as well as the commander in chief. Instead of second-guessing the decisive actions of our police officers and Commissioner Kelly, New Yorkers should be supporting them in the war on crime — New York City remains the safest large city in America.New York City’s commitment to winning the crime war allows police officers — and not unruly bands of self-righteous vigilantes — to patrol the city the way they see fit. Does anyone truly long for the days when the Guardian Angels ran wild?Mr. Akasie contributes to The New York Sun.

Gotham City or Dodge City?

Gotham City or Dodge City?

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