Wednesday, March 9, 2011

taking on the cops

As we've gotten further away from 9/11, the almost unbreakable affection we had for New York's Finest has steadily started to wear away.   I don't think the memory of that day has faded or their braveness forgotten but the general attitudes of the average guy on the beat just feels like there are two sets of rules.

Whether a guy in a patrol car yapping away on his cell phone as he drives down the street, see one of them driving in the bike-lane up on 9th avenue  or five of them  chit-chatting on a subway platform it just doesn't seem like they are doing what they are well-paid to do.   It's not that we don't believe they are putting their lives on the line but it's this nonchalant attitude where they seem to all thumb their nose at the very law they are paid to enforce.

I'm crossing the street last Saturday afternoon with my wife and daughter when all of a sudden a cop car drives through a red-light passing right in front of us.   Now it wasn't as if he ran me off the road or there was even a fear of getting clipped but it's the audacity of it all.  See most of the time they'll throw their cop-lights and siren on for 20 seconds to give the appearance like they are on official police business but in this case they didn't even bother to do even do that minor act to give the bullshit appearance of some emergency.  Why the hell do these guys need to run the light in the first place and then why do they feel like they have a right to do so.   I remember being a kid and being taught to look up to a police-officer as a role-model but when they routinely disregard laws while harassing citizens the shine wears off and I can't in good conscious try to convince my daughter that these guys are beyond reproach...even if they act like they are 

No comments: