PAX Centurion - January / February 2015

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • January/February 2015 • Page 15 Letters to / from the editor: How dare you? Letter to the Boston Globe editorial dept. re: “Funerals are a time for respect, not protest” A re you kidding us? I mean, really? In my 35 years with the BPD, I have seen many a sneering editorial in the Boston Globe , demeaning the blue-collar cops that elitist frauds love to criticize and second guess, even as they live and work in the ivory towers that we provide protection for. But the editorial of Tuesday, December 30 th , 2014, really took the cake: ( “Funerals are a time for respect, not protest”). The editorial lectures the police officers who silently turned their backs on the Marxist Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, while he pretended to honor two police officers assassinated as they sat in their cruiser. “…Unfortunately, it was not free from politics”, laments the high holy hypocrites of Morrissey Blvd. Ahmmm…why do you think so many politicians were there, Boston Globe , and kept us police officers standing at attention in the cold for three hours while they blathered on about their alleged “respect” for what we do? (If there was a cop there who believed them, let me know, but that bridge in Brooklyn has already been sold.) The alligator tears were gross and obscene. But worse than that was the lecturing tone of the Globe editorial, criticizing officers for the silent act of turning their backs on a Mayor who has expressed in many ways his disdain and hatred for police officers. I don’t recall a similar editorial following the hate-speeches for conservatives and Republicans engaged in by prominent Democrats during the funeral of Minnesota Senator PaulWellstone. (No, the double-standard is evident to those of us who know what – and who – the liberal media actually represent.) Senator Robert Byrd, Democrat ofWest Virginia, and former head of a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan , was lionized by the Globe in past editorials, his sordid past poo- poohed and brushed off as a mere aberration in his evolvement towards enlightened liberalism after his own funeral. Such utter hypocrisy! But the Globe lectures police officers about the simple, silent act of turning their backs on a speech given by a man who stoked resentment and hatred of police officers which resulted in the deaths of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu? How dare you? That symbolic act, in which several hundred Boston and local officers participated, was unplanned and spontaneous. Hundreds of civilians also turned their backs while that detestable man (Mayor de Blasio) gave a speech which came not from the heart but from a calculating, crass politician seeking to draw attention to himself. I have waited for some time to respond to your editorial, in the belief that it is never a good thing to write in anger, but every time I read your editorial, I do a slow burn. Quite frankly, Boston Globe , how dare you? – James W. Carnell Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association Area A-1 representative L ast Saturday’s funeral for Rafael Ramos, one of two New York City police officers killed in their squad car on Dec. 20, was filled with mournful tributes, pomp and circumstance. Unfortunately, it was not free from politics. When NewYork Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke inside the church in Queens, scores of officers standing outside turned their backs to a large TV screen that showed the ceremony; they’re angry that de Blasio has expressed sympathy with activists who have taken to the streets to protest police killings of black civilians. Meanwhile, on that same day, some of those activ- ists marched through Brooklyn, at one point stopping traffic, at some points hurling invectives at police. Speaking on television talk shows on Sunday, NewYork Police Commissioner Bill Bratton criticized the officers who turned their backs on de Blasio, saying the funeral was an inappropriate moment for a political display. Bratton was right, and someone in a position of leadership among the Brooklyn protesters should have sent the same message. The activists’ feelings are heartfelt; their cause is important. Police officers’ grief is real, their defensiveness understandable. But a funeral is a moment for respect, reflection, and humanity – a shared public experience that deserves its own space. Holding off on expressions of anger, from both sides, would have sent a public message too. Repairing relations between communities and police will be a long and painstaking process, but it’s a crucial Boston Globe Editorial / 12-30-2014: Funerals are a time for respect, not protest one, and mutual understanding is a baseline requirement for change. A day of respite from angry rhetoric would have been a small step toward progress. It also would have kept the focus where it deserved to be that day: on Rafael Ramos’s life. On Jan. 4, when mourners gather again to honor slain Officer Wenjian Liu, both sides should show appropriate restraint. Attention To all members of the Boston Police Relief Association – Active Duty or Retired If you need to change your beneficiary or you are not sure of who your beneficiary is you can contact the relief office at 617-364-9565. If you leave a message your call will be returned and if necessary the paperwork will be sent out to you. Thank you. – William F. Carroll, Clerk, Boston Police Relief Association