Bratton says crime is here
Army vet Bill Bratton, who has commanded six police departments, including Boston, Los Angeles and twice NYC’s commissioner, said:
“My own wife was assaulted 11:30 one morning at 57th and Third. Crowded corner on a busy day. So many emotionally disturbed people . . . that this fear is talked about a lot.
“With maybe a thousand disturbed people in a state of millions, Cuomo reduced the number of beds so a judge could put an emotionally disturbed person into custodial care. Politicians refuse to expand that. New Yorkers are punished by those they voted into office and are returning us to insanity.
“Gun crime’s up. Politicians rewrite regulations so anybody can apply for a permit. Nothing changes until they rework these rules. It’s the Wild West. More guns, more violence, more suicides. Criminals just steal a gun and use it. Inappropriate use of guns by the law-abiding population and watch shooting incidents increase.
“For small shops steel gates are coming back. Empty storefronts have homeless living in doorways. Legislative action is such that you can shoplift over and over. And the DA won’t prosecute. Steal under a certain amount and you won’t get arrested. There’s no punishment for crimes.
“2018 was New York’s safest year. Fewer than 100,000 serious crimes, 300 murders. The next year Albany’s criminal justice reform screwed it up. Today’s crime wave is blamed on New York politicians. They created it.
“And Manhattan’s DA doesn’t want to put criminals in jail. He’s risking the rest of the population by giving them chances. Sorry, you’re caught with a gun committing a crime? You should go to jail!”
Need more people and training
“For all New York’s issues now, the police department is not large enough. Cops have a hard time protecting themselves for fear of being sued and maybe wrongful arrest. It’s a mess. Law enforcement also has not enough civilian captains — people who see something and say something.
“Officers need training. It’s like not wanting a doctor to give too much chemo or radiation. You want just the right amount to cure you. Same in terms of our risk. You don’t make the patient sicker — just what’s correct. Stop-and-frisk, a great tool, can be moderated. Done away with — but it’s an essential tool. You can’t police without it. The challenge is to do it constitutionally. Within the law. Moderated up and down depending on the crime but it must be here to stay. When I ran the department in the early ’90s we had even more crime.”
MTA relay
“For subways, more officers need to be in the system. Technology today helps. I’d advocate cameras that monitor in real time from a control room or the conductor’s cab so you’re not reviewing a crime after it happens but before it happens. From the conductor’s cab you can’t see the curve in these trains. It’s a major defect.
“As for recruiting officers, part of the problem was that during COVID the police academy stopped giving tests and the recruiting process. The pool reduced dramatically from our normal 30,000. They’re now in a yearlong process of formulating new exams, so temporarily the department’s down about 1,200 officers. That’ll change.”
Rich jokes
So this chatty barber, from a country near Russia, asked what his customer did. Told, “Writer.” His exclamation, “Writer!? You rich!” Told, “No.” His answer to that, “Anderson Cooper rich!” . . . Also rich might be David Schwimmer. If he needs a haircut, who knows. I know some dollars he earned from “Friends” got spent at Canaletto. The East 60s. Italian dinner. Ask for Elvis.
So didn’t Biden’s note tell him when YOU should head for the head so he doesn’t do on TV like he’s doing to the US?
Only in America, kids, only in America.