The NYPD's dangerous sense of entitlement

Most conservative commentators are busy nowadays suggesting that it is incumbent on de Blasio to heal this rift by apologizing to the police preferably with some bowing and scraping thrown in.   While I understand the strong urge to see de Blasio humbled, it’s insane to suggest that it’s proper for the police to refuse to do their jobs to the best of their ability unless their boss (de Blasio) publicly apologizes to them.

Public criticism of public employees is standard and common for politicians and is probably more prevalent from Republican executives than from Democrats. It is a frequent (nearly incessant) campaign pitch for Republicans that a given agency or department is bloated and/or corrupt and/or full of cronies. We would immediately and harshly criticize any agency that responded to such accusation by engaging in a work stoppage.

Regardless of whether de Blasio’s statements about the police are true or not (at least from the perspective of the police), he is entitled to expect as the city’s chief executive that they will do their jobs properly. I am appalled by the NYPD’s union-led mentality that they alone among government employees are entitled to stop doing their jobs because they have faced the horrible indignity of being publicly criticized. We cannot permit the “working strike” to become an accepted and/or appropriate response to political criticism of a department. Otherwise this tactic is going to crop up wholesale whenever a Republican talks about cutting a budget or positions from any department now or in the future.