From the Police Blotter: Can You Feel the Love?

 

Police officers turn their backs as Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at the funeral of slain officer Rafael Ramos on Dec. 27, 2014.

Mayor de Blasio has not improved his relationship with the NYPD from the moment that this AP photo was taken. He’s not getting a whole lot of love from The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association of the City of New York.

The NYC PBA recently conducted a poll on how its members feel about Mayor de Blasio; 6,000 out of 24,000 members responded. 96 percent had unfavorable opinions about the Mayor.

97 percent said the Mayor has created an environment where criminals feel emboldened. 95 percent said he has established an environment that is combative to police.

When members were asked what they liked most about Mayor de Blasio, 66 percent responded “nothing.”

The City Council received a 96 percent dissatisfaction rating.

The Mayor’s recent decision to remove armed officers from NY City high schools probably didn’t do much to enhance his popularity with officers. It certainly didn’t enhance his popularity with teachers and parents. That decision was reversed due to pressure from those last two groups.

[Officer] Espinet was a constant presence, both in the hallways and outside the building, according to staffers and students. He made sure doors were locked and busted kids for smoking.

“He knew what was happening,” said Phyllis Leibowitz, an English teacher who served 16 years as a dean. “Kids told him things . . . They would give him a heads up, and he would handle it before it happened.”

Espinet regularly attended school meetings and made suggestions on how to make the school safer, staffers said. He also spoke to classes about careers in law enforcement and took troubled kids under his wing.

“He was as much of a social worker as a police officer,” said Al Lahood, a social studies teacher. “He was part of the school community. Without him . . . there’s a vacuum, a piece that’s missing.”

Officer Espinet will be back on campus.

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There are 12 comments.

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  1. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    The citizens of New York City re-elected de Blasio. The citizens of New York City elected the current members of City Council and will likely re-elect all of them. Until they stop electing folks like that the problem is not going away.

    NYC cops should seek out jobs in Texas. (My town, League City, is looking to hire up to 20 more.) They may not get paid as much, but the drop in their cost of living will more than make up the difference. Plus they will get a lot more respect.

    • #1
  2. Curt North Inactive
    Curt North
    @CurtNorth

    Agreed, if you have the means to get yourself and your family out of New York, do it.  Good cops are needed across the nation, go work where local government appreciates you.

    • #2
  3. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Doug Watt: Officer Espinet will be back on campus.

    Doug,

    De Blasio is a major jerk. I think the only way we are going to get safety for the kids in school is from the bottom up. Both police presence and concealed carry must be part of the package. Idiots like De Blasio and the Dem leadership in DC only make things worse.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #3
  4. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    James Gawron (View Comment):
    Idiots like De Blasio and the Dem leadership in DC only make things worse.

    They view that as a feature, not a bug. How can you not let a crisis go to waste if you do not have a crisis?

    • #4
  5. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    James Gawron (View Comment):
    Idiots like De Blasio and the Dem leadership in DC only make things worse.

    They view that as a feature, not a bug. How can you not let a crisis go to waste if you do not have a crisis?

    Sea,

    I try not to think this way. Considering all of the warnings they had about Cruz before Parkland and how fast they organized their phony political campaign, one might wonder whether they literally were waiting for this kid to kill people.

    Well, maybe I’m just projecting simple common sense onto people who don’t have any. The only thing they really understand is how to throw a political tantrum for the camera.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #5
  6. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    Someone like Officer Espinet is feeling the love from staff, teachers, parents, and from students. I see the world as it is, not as what I would like it to be.

    All I hear is crickets when it comes to the Maryland school shooting from the usual suspects. A deputy assigned to that school engaged the shooter in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately there will be times that you need someone who can bring another gun to a gunfight. That’s the world as it is right now. Maybe the world will change, but until it does a police officer, or the deputy in Maryland, have a role to play in this imperfect world.

    If you can find teachers that have the desire to carry concealed put them through the same firearms training on the police range that officer’ receive, as well as quarterly qualification. Have them train on a regular basis alongside LEO’s in active shooter training, that’s a solution as well.

    I found as a police officer that most people could behave themselves without my supervision, but I dealt with those who could not as well. I’m not a total cynic about behavior, but I don’t buy into rainbows and unicorns narratives when it comes to human nature.

    • #6
  7. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Doug Watt (View Comment):
    If you can find teachers that have the desire to carry concealed put them through the same firearms training on the police range that officer’ receive, as well as quarterly qualification. Have them train on a regular basis alongside LEO’s in active shooter training, that’s a solution as well.

    Doug,

    Sounds like a plan.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #7
  8. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    James Gawron (View Comment):

    Doug Watt (View Comment):
    If you can find teachers that have the desire to carry concealed put them through the same firearms training on the police range that officer’ receive, as well as quarterly qualification. Have them train on a regular basis alongside LEO’s in active shooter training, that’s a solution as well.

    Doug,

    Sounds like a plan.

    Regards,

    Jim

    And it sounds like community policing. Doing this —or something very like it—would do two things. First, it would probably save lives in the event of a school shooting.  Having a partnership between willing teachers (or, for that matter, secretaries, janitors, principals) and the police will create good and fruitful relationships even if a school shooter never shows up. Since school shootings are rare, any steps taken to counteract them should ideally provide other positives in terms of safety, education and promoting the general welfare —as Espinet has been doing—at the same time.

    • #8
  9. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Kate Braestrup (View Comment):
    Having a partnership between willing teachers (or, for that matter, secretaries, janitors, principals) and the police will create good and fruitful relationships even if a school shooter never shows up.

    Kate,

    Agreed.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #9
  10. Larry3435 Inactive
    Larry3435
    @Larry3435

    Doug Watt: The Mayor’s recent decision to remove armed officers from NY City high schools probably didn’t do much to enhance his popularity with officers.

    On the other hand, if he decided that he didn’t need the armed officers who are assigned to his protection detail that might be a very popular move.  After all, who would want to take a bullet for this guy?

    • #10
  11. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Still no shootings, of students by teachers, or by anybody else, in the Okay, Oklahoma schools.

    • #11
  12. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Two main reasons none of those NYC cops will be moving to Texas any time soon.  The biggest one is the reason most people would not move from where they are to take a new job.  FAMILY.  People stay where they are because all their family is there.  Police tend to have large close families, many of whom are in law-enforcement.  They don’t want to move to Texas and leave all their relatives behind.

    The other big reason is their Police Union Pension.  Salary is not nearly as important as that pension.  NYC police are very well-paid, and their pensions are very generous.  Probably not nearly as generous in Texas.

    • #12
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