Op-Ed: Why I Didn’t Attend the Police Family Picnic
I knew it was happening, I even heard the drumming, but I did not attend the annual 71st Precinct Family Day Picnic.
I don’t like the police, I think they are just a tool used to fill the city’s coffers.
I didn’t always feel this way, in fact I always thought how lucky we were that the police here are not like the KGB that our grandparents fled from. I used to think how nice it was that our police was better than the Gestapo, how they don’t round us up and shoot us, till I realized that we are not living in soviet Russia or Nazi Germany, we are living in the United States of America! And here in the USA we are not satisfied that our police don’t murder us, we hold them to a higher standard!
We demand that our police protect us and keep us safe.
We demand that our police arrest criminals that menace our streets.
We demand that they do this at very least, with as much vigor energy and resources that they seem to have when it comes to giving out tickets!
But this is clearly not the case!
Answer these two questions and see for yourself:
1. Do you know anyone, even one single individual who got their airbags or car radios back after a brake in?
2. Do you know anyone, even one single individual who did not get a ticket when leaving their car double parked?
It is not OK that our police are so good at stopping cars from parking too close to the corner (see the new no parking signs on every renovated corner) but they can’t seem to recover a car radio, or prevent wheels being stolen from under a parked car.
Just a week after a member of our community was shot dead, my family had a 4:00am visit from a squad of police detective who proceeded to search our home (did I mention it was 4am?) to execute an arrest warrant for, wait for this… some parking tickets!
How many people do you know that got ticketed in the days following the blizzard? I got one, cost me over $100. I tried to fight it, but I ended up paying… don’t relish another knock on my door at 4:00am.
This is not to say that the NYPD is all bad, or that all of the NYPD is bad, but they have some way to go till they earn my trust back, and you better believe that a few kosher hot dogs aint gonna do the trick!
Now I’m not so naive to think that they actually want to earn my trust back, or that they actually care at all about me. I’m just a resident they can ticket without having to worry that I may pull a gun on them. Easy cash.
So I am resigned to circling the block for hours because the only spot may, or may not be a foot too close to the hydrant.
I’m resigned to trying to be happy with police who (usually) don’t go around arresting people nilly willy. At least I can count on them to show up and take statements if I ever get into an accident, even if it does take a few hours.
So happy Family Day Picnic to all, but I don’t think I will be coming next year either when you once again pretend to care.
Sincerely,
Resigned Crown Heights Resident
feeling unsafe mom in CH
Well written, I , too, agree and did NOT attend.
the driver
the rationale they are educating the locals how to be law abiding is possibly true yet disapointing
a few months ago i lost my job at a factory
i drove a “car service” and got three tickets during less than ten days
one for seat belt, one for improper lane change, one for improper turn
also towed once
i no longer try making money in new york
well you could go to queens and tlc for a tlc license
the system squeezed out the people it existed for
a place where there is to much law nothing happens the talmud
stop the hypocrisy
It’s just an annual PR stunt designed to make the corrupt CHJCC & the corrupt police look good. Makes me sick.
Disgusted at this article!
Seriously! They protect us as much as they can! Do you know how many petty thieves and major criminals are in NY? let alone Brooklyn?!
Honestly, as soon as those pieces from the car were stolen they were resold on the black market within 24 hours! There is virtually no way to track them down!
You should not be leaving your car double parked! There is a reason its a rule! its DANGEROUS! it causes accidents!
People in CH are looking for excuses and an easy way out of things. I’m sorry but the police task force isn’t gonna give in. writing trash about their parade is wrong.
Sad
Many police recruits (not the Affirmative Action sort who are either incompetent or just plain old thugs that relish the idea of having the city arm them) go into the NYPD to do the right thing.
They end up ground down by the bureaucracy and the bad apples, as well as the “blue wall of silence” culture.
Sad. But I guess that is what living in a high crime city does to someone who wants to keep things safe.
take a look
generally, yidden should not attend. it is bringing yidden and goyim together and have yidden follow the ways of goyim. even if some yidden may not feel this way yet the effect begins slowly. (honestly, i looked at the pictures that we’re put up online and it seemed as most of the crowed were the “modern” people of ch, like the men wearing jean similar to goyim and so on) in truth, the goyim hate us! trying to please them with the way we dress or act makes the relationship worse between goyim and yidden.bc why would we try to be like them? dont forget that yidden are naturally higher class even in the gashmiyus, we buy silver menorah vs the goyim that spend their money with an instant on a cup of alchol and than they behave like real low lives. lets face it, jews rock and have a way of life, a life of tranquil and quality, not something we shoul leave behind.
sad but so true
its sad but true. why do we not stand up for our selfs. the more we suck up the more they take advantege
Jews are Targets
Let’s not forget how Inspector Peter Semminetti from the 71st precinct uses NYPD to target local volunteer groups like Shomrim.
http://www.youtube.com/watc…
We all also have to understand that what NYPD is doing is back by the corrupt CHJCC – Chanina Sperlin and Co. and the Shmira (which is under the leadership of the CHJCC).
sd
come on its not as bad as u put it first of all when u make a report about ur airbags being stolen u should not expect to get it back there r not many ways to find who did it and even if they do find who did it the guy probebly dosent have money to pay u back and therefore just goes to jail secend of all i have double parked many times and did not get a ticket for it and i know many people who do the same i think people r over reacting to police giving out a few extra tickets even when some people deserve itwe should all be thankfull that we live in a free world cause it aint gonna be free to much longer (with obama as president)
elisha
why is this neighborhood or precinct different then any other on any borough
CZ
its a hard call. while there is much corruption and we’re sick of the repeats of injustice (etc), we do want to show the decent people in the community that we’d like to work with them and that we respect who they are. So how to do that?…..
To the Resigned Crown Heights Resident
To the Resigned Crown Heights Resident
Wake up and get real. Stop your wining and constant complaining.
The next time there is trouble in the street and you are running away for protection try not to get in the way of the police that you hate that are running towards the problem.
Your sniveling is pathetic.
Boruch
I couldn’t have said it any better than the author. My sentiments exactly. It used to be that the NYPD were great and only have several bad apples. Now they’re tyranical and only have several good apples. Sad for all of us.
Better a false peace
I don’t see why the writer and other commentators are so critical here. They may be attacking the priorities of the police, but they haven’t raised any allegations of misconduct. No one is saying we have to love the police, but we should try to get along with them. Clearly it’s better to have a false peace with the police than a real war with them.
Meh!
Disagree.
Poorly thought-out.
Very presumptuous.
Not Fair
Most cops are good people and do a very good job, just because you found some idiot cop that doesn’t mean that you have to knock all the cops.
CH resident
to author:
Don’t be nispoel from the negative comments towards your article. There are always going to be the leckers that can’t get enough of this police state. Their only gripe with the NYPD is that they want them to be a bit more KGB like. Or the type of people that don’t get it because they have Stockholm syndrome that when they get abused, they don’t even realize it.
SHAME
Harmony day picnic run by the 71st precinct. You must not like the police nor your neighbors. It’s a harmony day picnic that was introduced to our community after the riots. You lost all sense and the true meaning of the picnic.
not in CH
12. I was in C.H. during the riots .. I did not see the “police ””“””“”running towards the problem.“”” , They were a bunch of cowards.
.
Milhouse
The author is 100% right. There may be one or two decent policemen, but as a class they are a gang of thugs, who *regularly* break the law themselves, and exist only to generate revenue and respect for themselves. When police stop arresting people for “Contempt of Cop”, and stop perjuring themselves, when they cooperate with Shomrim instead of harassing them, and they start taking seriously their oaths to uphold the constitution, then perhaps we can start respecting them.
This is non sense
If you don’t want traffic tickets don’t violate the rules.
Do you really think a car radio is a priority when there are murers rapes and robberies?
Give me a break!
antimesira
The author is not suggesting we get away with double parking or any other motor vehicle violations, what the author is clearly trying to say is….
NYPD should fight crime with the same (if not more) vigor as they do traffic laws.
Gentile
#6, it is exactly your xenophobic mentality of us vs. them which breeds everything you feel is against you.
“the goyim hate us! trying to please them with the way we dress or act makes the relationship worse between goyim and yidden.bc why would we try to be like them? dont forget that yidden are naturally higher class even in the gashmiyus, we buy silver menorah vs the goyim that spend their money with an instant on a cup of alchol and than they behave like real low lives.”
Goyim don’t care to be pleased by the way Jews dress. That is simply untrue.
If there is any hate, it is because of a lack of understanding and your comments about being a higher class, etc., certainly encourage anti-Semitism.
It’s hypocritical to mention alcohol considering it’s kind of a staple in shuls and illegally with minors.
Silver menorah? So what? You can’t compare such a thing because Goyim aren’t required to have a menorah. Certainly, there are Jews in this world who can’t even afford a silver menorah. The way you word it sounds more about materialism rather than a profound sense of spirituality. A menorah, despite it’s religious significance, is ultimately still just an object. There are many Goyim who are spiritual, religious, non-materialistic and believe in G-d.
Having a silver object in your house gathering dust most of the year doesn’t make you better than anybody.
If you used less of your eyes to judge and more of your heart and mind to get to know people, perhaps you’d realize there are plenty of Goyim out there who are not that different than you and they have just as much purpose on this planet as you.
CH is a microcosm and is not representative of the whole world.
Moshiach will never come until people’s attitudes change and they learn to work together, justly and with acts of kindness. This world is unfit to receive such an honor. I would never ask “ad mosai” because at this point, it’s like begging a king to visit a toilet of a planet that we all messed up.
to #23 - i agree
As an Orthodox Jewish Young Woman, I agree with you! It does not matter what religioun a person is or what country there from – all that matters is that a person is a good person. I see many people who put me down and is in shock that i am friends with non-jewish people. Yet, some (but many are not) Jewish people are very selfish. While many non jewish people are very kind and amazing in tons of ways.
i think crown heights is stuck in a whurl wind of hatred and anti-semitism and most importantly misunderstanding of each other. it needs to stop
police
maybe its just because i am from out of town, but i am grateful that we have men and women risking their lives every day, so that we dont have criminals running around and killing us. i thank the police for going to work every day and knowing they might not come home.
Milhouse
All you people talking about the police “risking their lives” need to come off your high horses and stop exaggerating. Policing is *NOT* the most dangerous job in America, it’s not even one of the TEN most dangerous jobs. Plenty of people assume much higher risks to earn their living; do we go around thanking them and imagining that we owe them, and therefore let them get away with CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR?
Perjury is a crime, every bit as much as bank robbery or rape, and police are notorious for it. False arrest is also a crime; when the police arrest someone for “disrespecting” them, or for photographing or recording them, or for giving them a hard time, they are no better than any other criminal gang.
Milhouse
#24, you need to learn some yiddishkeit. You call yourself Orthodox, but you seem to be ignorant of “Hamavdil bein kodesh lechol…bein Yisroel lo’amim”. We are not equal, and it is kefirah to consider us equal. Bonim atem laHashem Elokeichem. Vo’avdil eschem min ho’amim, lihyos li. We have laws to prevent us socializing with others, because we should always be conscious that we are “om levodod yishkon”.
Gentile
Milhouse,
Care to back up your claim about police work not being in the top 10? This says otherwise:
http://www.businessinsider….
G-d didn’t write prayers. If such things were said by any other group, you’d be crying anti-Semitism. “Thank you, Hashem, for not making me a Jew.” Try saying that and see how you feel.
Just because someone isn’t Jewish and/or doesn’t wear their religious affiliation or pray in public doesn’t mean they’re not religious and to assume they aren’t is to be ignorant of the world’s population and affiliations.
http://dictionary.reference…
Notice it doesn’t say “non-Jew” and everybody, at some point, has done something secular.
Milhouse
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics disagrees. The ten most dangerous jobs in America are:
1. Fisherman
2. Logger
3. Pilot
4. Farmer/Rancher
5. Roofer
6. Structural Iron/Steel Worker
7. Refuse Collector
8. Industrial Machinery Maintenance Worker
9. Truck Driver
10. Construction Worker.
Another list from 2005 goes:
1. Logger
2. Pilot
3. Fisher
4. Structural Iron/Steel Worker
5. Refuse and Recycling Collector
6. Farmer/Rancher
7. Roofer
8. Electric Power Line Worker
9. Sales Worker/Truck Driver
10. Taxi Driver/Chauffeur
As for the “top 15” list you cite, it contradicts itself. #8 is missing, there are two #10s, and it’s not sorted by fatality rate.
And all the quotes I gave are from God. It’s His world, and this is how He created it. It doesn’t matter whether you like it or not, whether it hurts your feelings, that’s how it is, and that is what the Torah demands that we believe.
Useful fair for me
Millhouse again. Practice what you’re preaching about us all being Hashem’s children- you wrote such garbage about the disabled and crippled population right before Shavuos when the Yidden are in a unity mode that I can’t even read your comments. I am still burning mad about the “once in a yovel that a crippled person gets to the store- let them lift him inside(without regards to personal dignity).” But here I digress.
I actually liked the fair because I was l’havdil elef havdalos able to approach the “melech basadeh” Marty Markowitz and take care of a matter I had started years ago which bogged down in Community Board 9 about getting some curb cuts at the corners of my block for my daughter’s wheelchair. Marty was quite accommodating and his office is working on cutting through the red tape for us. Unfortunately, those that attended didn’t seem to know who Marty is despite all those culturally correct newsletters he mails out. Boruch Hashem I could just walk right up to him without any fanfare!