I do not live in New York, But I do live in a large urban city (Dallas). I know that it is very difficult to handle all disturbances that may occur. I will never say that the NYPD had not done good. I am quick to praise the heroic actions of any public servant. I am also apt to look at the bad. The higher ups in the NYPD and the mayor need to do the same. They are quick to take responsibility for the positives and want everyones else to praise them as well, but do not want to take responsibility for the negative. I am a school administrator, and I feel that 99% of the teachers that I work with a great educators, but that does not mean that I will not criticize those who are terrible (and there are some). If they jepordize a student's education, which directly contridicts their job, I want them to be punished to the fullest extent, and I will not protect them from that. If I can recognize good behavior, I have to be equally prepared to recognize bad behavior. It seems that the commish and the mayor refuse to even admitt that ANY problem exists. I KNOW that bad things can happen whether you put yourself in a bad position or not (some of the women who were attacked were not even in the park, one was walking with a 5 year old girl, and the people from other countries may not live in a place where you are groped simply because you are female and attractive). All I am saying is that when you accept a job that relates to public service, you have to be prepared to be praised and lambasted. I face this reality everyday and if I wasn't able to step up, I would get another job.
I am more appalled when most of the perpetrators are of color. Even if this is a media tactic, and it happens with whites as well, I become enraged when I see people of color acting in ways that would CLEARLY embarrass everyone in their family. It doesn't matter if whites do it too, that doesn't mean that we have to. Some of those people were in college and still acted like they have no sense (so what are they getting out of the education?). We know that the media seeks to portray us in a stereotypical way, but it saddens me that they don't have to look too hard to find bad behavior. Those brothers saw all of the cameras, and they still didn't care that the next day, their mother, grandmother, preacher, baby sister, etc, would be sitting in front of the TV driven to tears by their behavior. I just don't get it.
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