This morning, speaking from her well-appointed headquarters in Washington, DC, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced a federal probe of the Baltimore Police Department for what she implied are repeated and serious violations of the constitutional rights of criminal suspects and, apparently, numerous others:
To translate: DOJ plans to wring a consent decree out of the Baltimore PD in which the feds will henceforth run the Department.
The "pattern or practice" investigation into the Baltimore Police Department will center on police officers' use of force, stops, searches and arrests, as well as allegations of discriminatory policing practices. If the DOJ finds a pattern of civil rights abuses, it will pursue a legally binding settlement to secure systemic reform.
To translate: DOJ plans to wring a consent decree out of the Baltimore PD in which the feds will henceforth run the Department.
Meanwhile, on Long Island, a different event was taking place. So far as I have been able to discover, neither Ms. Lynch nor any lower-ranking figure from the Department of Justice took the trouble to attend.
WABC New York has the story:
Thousands gathered on Long Island Friday morning for the funeral of NYPD officer Brian Moore, who was killed in the line of duty.The funeral procession began around 11 a.m. Friday, at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Seaford on Long Island with thousands lining the street outside the church.The wake was held at the Chapey and Sons Funeral Home in Bethpage Thursday evening. Up to 30,000 officers from around the country are expected at Moore's funeral....The Moore family released a statement on the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association web site Friday:
FROM THE MOORE FAMILYOn May 2, 2015 our loved one Brian Moore, a New York City Police Officer, assigned to the 105 PCT in the anti-crime unit, was brutally shot in the head, when he and his partner were about to approach a violent convicted felon who was armed with a firearm. After a long fight for his life, PO Brian Moore succumbed to his wounds on May 4, 2015.Due to these cowardly actions, a mother and father are left without their son, a sister is left without her brother, and his family and friends are left with emptiness in their hearts that can never be filled.Many people have asked our family where donations can be made. Donations can be made directly to Raymond Moore and mailed to NYC PBA Office 125 Broad Street New York, NY 10004-2400.Once again we would like to thank you for all of your love, support and generosity during this unforeseen tragedy.-The Family of Police Officer Brian Moore
It would be unfair and incorrect to imply that Ms. Lynch took no notice of Officer Moore's having been gunned down, however. In her Congressional testimony a few days ago, she did manage 30 words about it:
"Earlier this week, Officer Brian Moore, a 25-year-old New York City police officer, died after being shot while trying to question a man in Queens, and just two days ago."
I guess I'll leave it at that, except for one observation. If DOJ has a need to point the finger at the police, and to stage the announcement doing so at the exact moment a murdered cop is being laid to rest, it might at least take a look at what some might think is the principal, and quite a serious, failing of the Baltimore PD: Not that it catches too many thugs, but that it doesn't catch nearly enough.
I agree with Ms. Lynch that the people of Baltimore are owed more by law enforcement. They're owed both rigor and safety, and are getting neither.
UPDATE:
This is truly an awful crowd. I know that I don't have the same perspective as most here when it comes to policing, having argued forcefully in the past on here about stop and frisk and police abuse. But this crew has a soft spot for criminals.
Policing has lots and lots of problems. They take root in the same lowering of standards and lack of accountability that are suffusing most other institutions. Kevin Williamson from NRO has quite a good article, linked below, about how Baltimore, Detroit and other cities run for decades by "progressives" have developed astonishing rot in their police departments.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417601/riot-plagued-baltimore-catastrophe-entirely-democratic-partys-own-making-kevin-d?target=author&tid=903320