Sneak Peek, Wednesdays Syndicated Column -- RUBEN NAVARRETTE COLUMN (Advance for Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, and thereafter. Web release Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014, at 8 p.m. EST) (For Navarrette clients only) Standing up for the cops By RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR. SAN DIEGO -- You can bet that many law enforcement officers had a blue Christmas. The air is heavy with the haunting sound of bagpipes as police officers pay respects to fallen brothers. For me -- the son of a retired law enforcement officer -- the issue of dead cops cant be discussed in the abstract. Its personal. I remember the day my dad took me aside and told me that he might not come home because someone had been going around town threatening his life. I was 10. The thousands of men and women who do this thankless job are like family. And my friends on the force tell me there is, among the rank and file, a combustible mixture of anxiety and anger over a rash of cop killings. Its not just about New York police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, who were murdered on Dec. 20 as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn. Its about Florida officer Charles Kondek of the Tarpon Springs Police Department. The father of six was responding to a noise complaint on Dec. 21 when he was killed by a fugitive. And its about Arizona police officer Tyler Stewart, a 24-year-old rookie of the Flagstaff Police Department who was shot to death on Dec. 27 by a domestic violence suspect. A few days ago, the Los Angeles Police Department went on tactical alert after two men fired on officers in a patrol car. What in the world is happening? The epicenter of the storm is New York, where Pat Lynch, president of the citys largest police union, has said that Mayor Bill de Blasio has blood on his hands. Earlier this month, de Blasio -- in a lame attempt to relate to an African-American audience -- made an inappropriate comment about how he taught his multiracial son to be leery of police officers. Being on guard against the police isnt easy to do when the security detail guarding you is made up of police officers. During the unrest several weeks ago in Ferguson, Mo., liberal sympathizers in the media turned rioting and looting into a form of free speech. Now some police officers are exercising their free speech by turning their backs on de Blasio at public events. Bravo for them. The cops have the right to be upset at the mayor, and they also have the right to show it...
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 00:28:04 +0000
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