Any candidate :cough Christine Quinn cough cough: who wants to keep on Ray Kelly as Police Commissioner should be disqualified from the job. Via Gothamist, the City has declined to defend Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona, the officer who sucker-punched an occupy protester:
In Bologna's case, Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo said, "State law prohibits the city from representing or indemnifying city employees who are found to have violated agency rules and regulations." The NYPD has yet to discipline Cardona or accuse Like Bolgnahim of wrongdoing. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne initially said that Rivera-Pitre elbowed Cardona, and that the department was seeking his arrest, but those charges fizzled.
After the City refused to represent Bologna, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly expressed concern: "I think it can have a chilling effect on police officers taking action…And I'm concerned about an adverse effect on officers' willingness to engage."
Officers SHOULD think twice before pepper spraying a defenseless woman or sucker-punching a non-violent protester in the face. The department should support the hell out of good cops, but weed out the bad apples who think they're above the law themselves. Ray Kelly can't tell the difference. And that flows down from management through the ranks. And these aren't rookies we're talking about - these were the actions of relatively senior officers
This article is extremely confusing. You are throwing all of these surnames around without any background information.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I often post from my phone, and the results are sometimes sloppy. I usually clean those up within a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteYou got here first. I wish the posting interface was neater.
In any case, beyond cleaning up the formatting, I've changed the title and added more language. You still have to click through to Gothamist if you want the full story.
What I've focused on is only one aspect of it - but one I think is important. I don't think Ray Kelly sets the right tone at NYPD.
Every leader I've worked with at the 76th and 78th has been terrific and professional. We've got some really amazing people on the force. But there are those that don't belong in uniform. Which is why I think we need an IG for the NYPD. Oversight of those with power is a good thing. No one should feel they are above the law.