PAX Centurion - November / December 2014

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • November/December 2014 • Page 9 Treasury Notes: David “Duke” Fitzgerald, BPPA Treasurer Society needs to be careful what it wishes for A s this Christmas Season approaches the papers are once again filled with protests, police bashing and outright nega- tivity. The grand jury decisions in both Ferguson Louisiana and in NewYork City, NewYork in favor of two police officers in each city has resulted in what some are calling protests or demonstra- tions but in reality they are nothing short of riots. The citizens from both those two cities are using those grand jury rulings to make a mockery of our judicial system. Now had the grand jury decided to indict one or both of those police officers, would the police across America began protesting and rioting? I think we all know that answer is no. Our judicial system right or wrong, flawed or not, it is our ju- dicial system. It has been working for well over two hundred years and should continue to work. The decision is passed down by inno- cent jury members and the rest of us have to live with it. I believe that each and every one of us can either remember or think of a grand jury decision or just a verdict in a trial that we weren’t happy with or we were disgusted with and what did we do?We accepted it. We live with it. In both of these cases we have two police officers who are out doing their jobs. They are fulfilling the obligation they accepted. They are both honoring the oath they took when the badge was pinned on them. And each of them was placed in an unfortunate situation when they were involved with the death of another person. I truly believe that neither of them went into work on that fateful day and decided that this would be the day that they killed another human being for no reason at all. The mere idea of that is crazy. Now in my eighteen plus years on the job, through God’s good graces, I have never taken another life nor even fired my gun at another person. I cannot begin to know or even pretend to know what goes along with that. And I hope to God that I never know. But all this protesting and rioting and calls for justice against these two police officers makes me very uneasy. It makes me disgusted with the residents of all these cities that are holding said protests and riots. What message are these people doing the protesting and rioting send- ing to the rest of us, the rest of the police across this great nation? In this great city, Boston, Massachusetts, within our own depart- ment what message is the cop taking away from what they are seeing out there?Why would any cop leave the parking lot?Why would any cop make an arrest?Why would any cop watch and then arrest drug dealers?Why would any cop follow known gang members and arrest them on outstanding warrants? One message being received is that if I do nothing then nothing can happen to me. If I don’t arrest anyone, than I can’t hurt anyone. If I don’t write and moving violations then I won’t be the subject of an internal affairs investigation when the complaint is filed. If I don’t leave the parking lot during the whole tour then I will go home at the end of my shift. This is the message that society is sending to the po- lice across the country. So society needs to be careful what message they really want to send.You can mean one thing but say something totally different. So what is the answer to those compelling questions just asked a paragraph ago? It is simple, it is our job. We too accepted a responsibility when we accepted that badge that was being pinned on our chests. We took an oath before God to uphold and defend the Constitution of The United States of America. We know that there is a belief that we are the people to defend those who have nobody to defend them. We are the front line within the City of Boston. We are the First Respond- ers who rush into a violent scene at the same time when everyone else is running away. We, along with our friends in the Fire and EMT’s, are the backbone of what should be and usually is an appreciative City. It wasn’t all that long ago on the fateful day inApril 2013, when the City did show a display of gratitude toward us, one and all. We all knew then that it wouldn’t last for long and sure enough it didn’t. But that is alright. We didn’t take this job for praise or recognition. We took this job to help save and protect society, even sometimes from itself. We accepted this job because it is a job that somebody has to do. The legendary NBA player Charles Barkley was quoted as say- ing, “if it wasn’t for the police, we would be living in theWildWest.” Well chalk one up for Sir Charles. There is a member of society who understands things. So we just keep doing what we do and hopefully all is well. The protests, demonstrations and riots, well this too shall pass. That is of course until the next one. We all know that there will be a next one. That is just another reason why we need the police. For the next one. So let’s all keep frosty and go out there and do what we have to do. Let’s not allow a few thousand bad eggs destroy something that we have been building for centuries. A safe and well-protected place to live called the City of Boston. Now having said that, please allow me to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a joyful and peaceful Christmas Season. And remember, let’s be careful out there. In both of these cases (Ferguson & New York City) we have two police officers who are out doing their jobs. They are fulfilling the obligation they accepted. They are both honoring the oath they took when the badge was pinned on them. And each of them was placed in an unfortunate situation when they were involved with the death of another person. I truly believe that neither of them went into work on that fateful day and decided that this would be the day that they killed another human being for no reason at all. The mere idea of that is crazy.