# And now: What about all those cops turning their backs on De Blasio? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 27, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293 "2014-12-27T20:22:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/41 "2014-12-27T22:03:59Z")
I guess I’m not shocked. It’s a labor dispute and sometimes those get nasty. Police officers are civilians, not soldiers. > [@Bruce\_Wayne](#): > > Regardless if you call it mutiny or a “work action”, it doesn’t reflect well on the mayor to lose the support of law enforcement. Why? His job isn’t to be supported by the police. He was actually elected on a platform of stopping certain bad behavior on the part of the police. (Some of the lines on Bill de Blasio and the NYPD remind me of the debate over the surge in Afghanistan. Some people seemed to think that the President no role in making decisions on that issue that deviated from “listening to the generals,” as if defense policy was decided by the military alone.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/42 "2014-12-27T22:14:33Z")
Give all of them 48 hours to pen and publish a formal, individual apology for their behavior, then fire every single one of them who fails to comply. No pension, no recommendation, no nothing. Out on the street without a dime. Cops need to be taught a lesson in manners and the evil of the Blue Wall. That would do it. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/43 "2014-12-27T22:19:08Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And their employer, the mayor of New York, has a right to fire them for insubordination, and there is nothing you can do about that. It’s a union job, the mayor is not their employer, and it’s a political free speech issue, soooooooo, no, the mayor can not fire them for insubordination. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/44 "2014-12-27T22:30:06Z")
Who’s their employer, then? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/45 "2014-12-27T22:40:35Z")
They were totally wrong to do this in uniform. They’re proving the point of the protesters, they’re biased. I don’t blame most of them, I blame their leadership in the PBA and others who want to widen the rift between the public and the police. If they want to take off their uniforms and protest on their own time that’s fine with me even if I disagree with them. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/46 "2014-12-27T22:40:38Z")
And if the mayor was still Giuliani and they did this, which side would unhinged come down on then? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/47 "2014-12-27T22:42:18Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Give all of them 48 hours to pen and publish a formal, individual apology for their behavior, then fire every single one of them who fails to comply. No pension, no recommendation, no nothing. Out on the street without a dime. Cops need to be taught a lesson in manners and the evil of the Blue Wall. That would do it. As lovely a thought as this is, you can’t do it. What you’d wind up doing is leaving the largest city in the country without a police force. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/48 "2014-12-27T23:13:05Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The NYPD reports to the Police Commissioner, who serves at the pleasure of the mayor. Interesting question: Could De Blasio (even if only theoretically) order the Police Commissioner to identify every one of those cops and fire them? And can y’all imagine the political shitstorm-upon-a-shitstorm if he actually did that? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/49 "2014-12-27T23:30:54Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > It’s a union job, the mayor is not their employer, and it’s a political free speech issue, soooooooo, no, the mayor can not fire them for insubordination. I think those cops could get fired. Union representation does not protect individual employees from termination in case of misbehavior. Insubordination, especially when done by police _in uniform_ is pretty serious. No First Amendment protection there. And when it’s done by a whole bunch of police _en masse_ like this, it’s insurrection. They should all be fired. They need to build a new police force, nearly from scratch. Yeah, I know that’s out of the question. They need to bring in a whole lot of new blood into the ranks, perhaps over a period of several years. And institute and maintain some serious disciplinary ass-kicking, right from the top on down. (ETA: That said, I think the suggestion by **silenus** , to give every one of them a 48-hour written apology ultimatum, isn’t a half-bad idea.) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/50 "2014-12-27T23:37:24Z")
I’ve got half a mind (or maybe more) to print out several copies of this thread and send them to De Blasio, Bratton, and The New York Times. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/51 "2014-12-27T23:41:14Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I’ve got half a mind (or maybe more) to print out several copies of this thread and send them to De Blasio, Bratton, and The New York Times. …why? I doubt any of them would give a shit. As they shouldn’t. Edit: And “apologise “voluntarily” or you’re fired” is a incredibly stupid idea, even as a “ho ho ho, what a jape” chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/52 "2014-12-27T23:43:03Z")
This is fucking retarded. I’m sorry, but any police officer who can’t tell the difference between “I think the police should die” and “I think there needs to be more oversight in police dealings, and that recent police actions were not okay” needs to be fired. They are the problem. They are the people who are leading to this police culture where the man on the street _cannot afford to trust the police_. Where murder goes unquestioned if the perpetrator is in uniform. Fuck. These. Assholes. None of them deserve a fucking badge, let alone a gun. > [@doorhinge](#): > > What have got against free speech? Congratulations. You’ve just supplanted Smapti as the most fucking stupid poster on this forum. > [@doorhinge](#): > > Doesn’t democracy means everyone gets a chance to vote on every issue? No? You fucking idiot? ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/53 "2014-12-27T23:51:13Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > You’re engaging in your right to free speech but deny that same right to others. You must be a Democrat. 😃 You’re an idiot, and I’m not wasting my time with you. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/54 "2014-12-27T23:59:51Z")
The coverage is this whole issue to frighteningly similar to a banana republic where the Dear Leader only rules at the pleasure of the armed forces. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/55 "2014-12-28T00:13:01Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > The coverage is this whole issue to frighteningly similar to a banana republic where the Dear Leader only rules at the pleasure of the armed forces. Actually there’s no way in any “banana republic” the police would have ever publicly insulted “the Dear Leader” in that way. Personally I think it was grossly insulting to the Ramos family to turn his funeral into a political protest. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/56 "2014-12-28T00:13:16Z")
If I was the newly bereaved widow of a police officer I’d tell the department I was making arrangements of my own. My husband’s body belongs to me. I’d not want his funeral to turn into a circus, I’d want it in my church, and be a religious service. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/57 "2014-12-28T00:27:52Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > If I was the newly bereaved widow of a police officer I’d tell the department I was making arrangements of my own. My husband’s body belongs to me. I’d not want his funeral to turn into a circus, I’d want it in my church, and be a religious service. It was in his church. It was a religious service. He was training to become a police chaplain. All speakers and the entire ceremony was approved by the family. If they wished for no ceremony there would be none. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/58 "2014-12-28T00:29:15Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Actually there’s no way in any “banana republic” the police would have ever publicly insulted “the Dear Leader” in that way. > > Personally I think it was grossly insulting to the Ramos family to turn his funeral into a political protest. I wasn’t clear. I’ve heard commentators talk about the mayor “needing the support of the police” to effectively run the city, just as some regimes rule only with the support of the army. My point was, they spoke as if he served at the pleasure of the police, or they’d install someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/59 "2014-12-28T00:30:46Z")
The PBA doesn’t like _anyone._ It’s not only De Blasio that they’ve dissed. They’ve dissed Bloomberg and Giuliani and Dinkins too. [NYPD union has history of turning its back on mayors](http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/crime/op-ed-nypd-union-has-history-of-turning-its-back-on-mayors/article/421764). ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/60 "2014-12-28T00:34:11Z")
Deblasio was two hours late for the funeral, he has also publically made statements about fearing for the safety of his son implying the NYPD was going to hurt his family. I wonder what Ramos’s widow thinks about that? This guy is as tone deaf as they come. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293.md?page=4)