Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox takes leave after profiling email
The text of the “offending” e-mail (publicly available) is as follows:
[QUOTE=Police Chief Benjamin Fox]
I think that most police officers are finding the national rhetoric about police abuse and racial profiling quite upsetting. Profiling, racial or otherwise, has it’s place in law enforcement when used correctly and applied fairly. Unfortunately we have never heard that from our President, top political leaders or our US Attorney General. Don’t ask the police to ignore what we know. Black gang members from Teaneck commit burglaries in Wyckoff. That’s why we check out suspicious black people in white neighborhoods. White kids buy heroin in black NYC neighborhoods. That’s why the NYPD stops those white kids. The police know they are there to buy drugs. It’s insane to think that the police should just dumb down just to be politically correct. The public wants us to keep them safe and I’m confident that they want us to use our skills and knowledge to attain that goal.
My major concern is that all of this misguided complaining about police officers will cause an officer to react slower to something you might perceive as a threat. That delay could be deadly. Continue to do your job relying on your training, instincts and knowledge: A common thread in the recent national incidents are persons who resist the police. That resistance then creates your counter reaction. We don’t run from fights. This department has a history of being respected by the public. Each of you contribute to that daily. Continue to be fair with people and treat them with respect. If someone resists your authorized demands, use your counter reaction as the law allows and you have my 100 support should others complain. If you have done your job correctly, they don’t want to get me on the other end of the phone. Above all, do what you have to do and that which the law allows you to do to remain safe.
[/QUOTE]
I think his being forced to take leave is a bridge too far. Specifically, majority people, as outlined in the e-mail, can also be subject to profiling. There is nothing wrong in my opinion with allocating scarce police resources in an economical manner in accordance with common sense. Police are powerless to change the semi-segregated nature of society. Thus they should use that unfortunate fact to society’s advantage.
Another example concerns terror. It is obvious that most, though not all terror emanates from certain groups. In an effort to maintain a spurious “fairness” we force all people to undergo security checks when entering New York City office buildings. Clearly, almost all of those people are going about their day to day business, and having to add 15 minutes to the needed time to make a meeting is bad for productivity and society. Yet to spare the feelings of communities that more or less refuse to integrate we are inconveniencing all.
Similarly, in Brussels and Paris, as well as other European cities (and a few communities in the U.S.) there are large areas that are “off limits” to police and to majority communities. Common sense dictates that nothing good is happening in those communities. It is not as if the people in those communities are plotting out peaceful demonstrations. Nor are they working on arguments that they will ask their members of Parliament to debate. They are devising ways to hurt or kill us. And given the relative lack of employment, largely on the Government’s “dime.”
All that I ask is some common sense, not racism.