Sergeants Benevolent Association of the NYPD
Dear Fellow Sergeant,
We are living and working amid a nationwide crime epidemic. Countless civilians are being slaughtered daily, and more than 210 police officers have been shot in the line of duty this year, 40 of them fatally. There have been 46 ambush-style attacks against law enforcement, resulting in 71 officers being wounded and 18 killed.
Nowhere is the unbridled violence more evident than in New York City, which is regarded as the Capital of the World. Shootouts and acts of unprovoked violence in such tourist destinations as Times Square have made international news.
Lawlessness and urban decay are obvious as soon as visitors arrive in the city at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Penn Station, or Grand Central Station. The first images people see are homeless encampments and aggressive panhandling.
Three out of four New Yorkers now say that being the victim of a crime surpasses contracting COVID-19 as their primary safety concern. As a result, they avoid public transportation and are wary about returning to work.
All these daily affronts are an assault on the senses of a civilized society. Despite the public making their concerns clear, many of our elected officials refuse to budge on their idiotic bail and police “reforms” that have resulted in this sense of anarchy.
The NYPD is making an abundance of quality arrests in these violent crimes, only to see many of the offenders released back into society within hours. We are at a crossroads where, if we don’t act now in a forceful and decisive manner, the city could be lost forever. If there is no accountability for one’s criminal actions, there is no justice or sense of social order.
Because our purported leaders continually refuse to address these compelling issues, we will continue to press them and hold them accountable for their ineptitude.
Also, as a member of the United Coalition of Public Safety (UCOPS) and the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO), we are joining forces with our law enforcement colleagues from Seattle, San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and other cities and municipalities to address these gross injustices.
The time for action is now. As police officers, we take our oaths to protect and serve very seriously. With continual pressure on our public officials to do the right thing, we can only hope that those responsible for this climate of lawlessness will ultimately come to their senses and put the safety of all New Yorkers, as well as the NYPD, above their own political and ideological agendas. The law-abiding public and the police deserve nothing less.
Thank you for your exemplary work and your steadfast support – and please continue to remain vigilant at all times.
Fraternally,
Vincent J. Vallelong
President
Sergeants Benevolent Association