New York City honors a man who tried to run down police officers with his car, cont.

Yet another unprecedentedly bad thing is the New York City Council’s vote to name a street in Queens after Sean Bell, the thug who was shot dead by police in 2006 after he attempted to strike police officers with his car (discussed here previously). In today’s New York Post, Michael Palladino, the president of the NYPD detectives’ union, expands on the horror of this decision. Also note that a leading champion of Bell and accuser of the police (who were ultimately vindicated in court) is Al Sharpton, whom President George W. Bush chummily greeted as a guest at the White House in February 2008 while most of Bush’s conservatives supporters remained silent about the visit or only criticized it with extreme reluctance.

The Council’s slap at the NYPD
By MICHAEL J. PALLADINO
December 23, 2009

With Monday’s vote to name three blocks of Liverpool Street in Queens after Sean Bell, the City Council has succeeded in delivering its anti-police agenda to the beleaguered citizens of our city.

There are a lot of good people on the council, but only nine members had the courage and common sense to vote “no” or abstain. The rest chose to rush through their version of police reform under the guise of renaming a street for a man who lost his life during the commission of a crime.

From the time the incident at Club Kalua occurred to the end of Monday’s council vote, the only time in the last three years that these officers were treated fairly was when Judge Arthur Cooperman rendered his “not guilty” verdict in their trial for the death of Bell. If council members are interested, what the verdict meant is that these officers were justified in their use of deadly physical force under the law.

The truth remains that in 2006 the police were asked to squelch continued serious problems at Club Kalua. In doing so, they put themselves in harm’s way—and wound up in a life-threatening situation, thanks to Bell and his cohorts.

Clearly, many council members have their heads in the sand. If they refuse to look at the facts and will only embrace fantasy, it’s no wonder that the carnage continues in their own districts. Every day seems to bring a new story about innocent women and children gunned down in the crossfire between thugs, gang members and drug dealers.

It’s a sad day for all New Yorkers when the City Council can be swayed and influenced by the flammable and fictitious rhetoric of the Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton once again created a myth (a la Tawana Brawley)—and this time the City Council has perpetuated it.

In detectives’ union discussions with council members, we discovered that most simply aren’t interested in the facts. None of them sat in the courtroom to witness testimony or bothered to read the trial transcript, even though we encouraged them to do so. Some chose to march alongside members of the violent Blood, Crips and other street gangs in anti-police protests.

The council claims that police reforms, specifically new use of the breathalyzer, are attributable to the Bell case. This is disingenuous and misleading: Contrary to the accusations of police intoxication, scientific and forensic evidence proved in court that it was Bell who was intoxicated (twice the legal limit), not the police.

The truth remains the police did nothing wrong the night of Nov. 25, 2006. The bad judgment, bragging about guns, soliciting of prostitutes, drinking and driving, and the refusal to comply with police orders were errors made by Bell and his friends.

Strangely, while our lawmakers in Albany are upgrading the penalties for DWI, the City Council is handing out recognitions and rewards for the same behavior. Sean Bell would be alive today had his judgment not been impaired by alcohol. But what’s the City Council’s excuse for its impaired judgment?

Michael J. Palladino is the president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, Inc., the union of NYPD detectives.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at December 23, 2009 06:17 PM | Send