Pittsburgh Police Chief Under Fire For Controversial Photo, Union Says Calls Department Racists
Source: CBS Pittsburgh
Marty Griffin
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) Pittsburghs Police Chief is under fire for a controversial photo that is making its rounds on Facebook, and some are saying the Chief called his entire department racist.
It happened during the First Night parade.
The protest group called Fight Back Pittsburgh carried signs saying End White Silence.
On their Facebook page a photograph of Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay holding one of the groups banners, a poster that stated, I resolve to challenge racism @ work #EndWhiteSilence.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/01/02/pittsburgh-police-chief-under-fire-for-controversial-photo-union-says-calls-department-racists/
Chakab
(1,727 posts)Cooley Hurd
(26,877 posts)...and investigating whether or not there are issues with race in his department. Yet, others behind the "Blue Curtain" are questioning this VERY LOGICAL move??
KMOD
(7,906 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Things are getting so bad that you have to remind people there is such a thing as a black cop.
staggerleem
(469 posts)In other words, you either give 100% support to 100% of the police force, or you're a cop-hater!
Seems like a losing cause to me, but I tend to be somewhat accepting of ambivalence, as I'm so often there myself. No room for it here, though, and more's the pity.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)I can relate to a man drawing scorn for doing the right thing at his workplace.
Good for him.
randys1
(16,286 posts)The racist garbage are a vocal bunch, we need to be also.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)randys1
(16,286 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)adieu
(1,009 posts)by NOT BEING RACISTS!
shenmue
(38,506 posts)bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)If they don't like it they can find someplace else to work.
SwankyXomb
(2,030 posts)of cop apologists will be along soon enough to attack you as anti-union.
randys1
(16,286 posts)be thought of as saying union people in general are thugs.
Now, union folks are always negotiating with thugs, yes.
The confusing part is by allowing cops to have unions you both cast negative light on unions in general and you give murderers cover...
Until we have disarmed America, including cops, their union situation needs a re tool
sendero
(28,552 posts)... Until we have disarmed America, including cops, their union situation needs a re tool"
Which is another way of saying "never".
JustAnotherGen
(31,823 posts)NickB79
(19,243 posts)Oh, that's right.
The cops.
With their guns.
Sure thing, sounds great
pasto76
(1,589 posts)cousin of then Steeler player Ray Seals, it was quite a thing in the city. before the mature internet and well before viral videos, but it made quite an impact there.
if a cop thinks this is 'calling the whole department racist', i suggest thats guilt telling him that.
Can tell this Chief aint no jag off.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I can see yinz speak Pittsburghese
MissKat
(218 posts)After I get done redding up from Christmas I'm going dahn-town to check out the sales.
Go Stillers! Cause Pixburgers bleed black and gold.
And y'uns who don't like the Stillers, well-- you're just jag-offs.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)about 45 minutes away, so I am not totally fluent My uncle has lived in Pittsburgh my whole life. Of course, I love the Stillers
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)pasto76
(1,589 posts)I grew up in the south hills. mom and Dad grew up in southside. that show on A&E has been pretty amusing for me. My wife - a wyominig girl - can barely understand them sometimes. Ever watch Pittsburgh Dad videos on youtube? outrageously funny
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)bread_and_roses
(6,335 posts)we said "yinz" - grew up outside the city, one of the little mill towns along the Ohio - what a blast of memory that "yinz" gave me
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)but I have a hankering for Primanti's now.
happyslug
(14,779 posts)The suburbs of Pittsburgh Police tend to be been formed by ex police officers from the Steel Valley Mill Communities not the City of Pittsburgh. The City Police were known to be political hacks and thus rarely known to do to many acts of violence. The Valley Police tend to be tied in with the anti-Union movement among the Steel Valley from the 1860s to the 1930s. Thus these suburban police are more head bashers then the City Police.
This division is not as severe was in was in the post WWII era, but it still exists to a degree.
Ramses
(721 posts)The last chief was involved in all kinds of legal problems. Just google police chief pittsburgh convictions... the rot in that dept is deep.
I hope th new chief gets to the root of corruption
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)when the good cops start addressing the bad cops things will start getting better.
marym625
(17,997 posts)What a shitty response.
So sick of both the racism and the denial of it
happyslug
(14,779 posts)Technically he did not become even a Police Officer till December 30th, when the State waived the residency requirements for being a Police Officer in Pennsylvania. This was a legal technicality for Pennsylvania has a law since the Homestead Strike 1892 that all police officer must have lived in Pennsylvania for one year prior to becoming a police officer (unless a written waiver is given by the State). Thus unless you get a waiver from the State, no one can be a police officer in Pennsylvania unless he or she had lived in Pennsylvania for a year. The present Police Chief had been the Police Chief of Madison Wisconsin, thus he was not formally a police officer till December 30th, through he has been running the Department since September.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Police_Chief
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/09/02/Pittsburgh-to-name-new-police-chief-this-afternoon/stories/201409020123
KDKA, the Pittsburgh CBS affiliate report this as being protested by the Police, but no one else does, inlcuding the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
The National FOP Made a nice statement on this situation, through you have to get around the attacks on the people protesting about police brutality:
December 23, 2014
Editor:
As police officers, we know that we can never predict what will happen when we put on our uniform each day. This simple fact was made very apparent with the brutal execution of two New York City police officers this past weekend. It was a scene that hit close to home for Pennsylvanians who continue to mourn the death and injury of our officers recently attacked at their own barracks in Blooming Grove.
Sadly, we were reminded again of the evil that exists in this world through events like these. Now more than ever, we need to rally around our brave men and women in uniform.
It's the job of all police officers to rush into danger to help those in need, regardless of personal risk, and they fully accept that risk every day. They face the worst criminals imaginable, and all too often those criminals use violence against police officers.
Nationally, 114 police officers have been killed in the line of duty this year alone. Four right here in Pennsylvania.
Each of these courageous officers from Pennsylvania and New York took a solemn oath to protect and serve their fellow citizens an oath they honored by giving their last full measure of devotion to fulfill it. Let us always remember our fallen brothers as heroic and humble public servants who laid down their lives to serve and protect us all.
Les Neri, President
FOP, PA State Lodge
STATEMENT OF CHUCK CANTERBURY, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE
DECEMBER 21,2014
Yesterday, NYPD Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were murdered in New York City by a coward who invoked race as a motive.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Politicians have spent the months since the tragedy in Ferguson piously wringing their hands and bemoaning the lack of trust of police by the minority community. Mayors and Congressmen and Senators and professional racists from all sides have seized on the moment to advance their often self serving opinions of what is wrong in America as a hyperventilating media nods knowingly and faithfully reports each and every word. Enough is enough.
While these politicians and their retinues ignore the decaying infrastructure of our cities, the substandard educational system, the nonexistent families, the poor nutrition, the lack of employment opportunities- all of which create a toxic environment which breeds crime- they focus with laser vision on every real or perceived mistake made by the cops fighting a running battle to keep the streets safe for our poorest and most disadvantaged citizens in our country's worst pockets.
Enough is enough. There's nothing wrong with the way cops do their jobs that won't be fixed when politicians suck it up and attack the problems that breed poverty and crime- but they're not going to do that. The media professes shock when we speak out - well, buckle them on America- you're going to hear a lot from our 325,000 members in the days and months ahead. Some of you may not like it, but you would do well to listen. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
http://www.pafop.org/
In many ways we should back this statement, even the politicians who are being attacked by it, by saying we are for the same thing as the Pennsylvania State Lodge of the FOP, we want such get people to trust the police by showing that if the Police act unlawfully they will be punished. Trust is a two way street, people must believe that the police are there to help them, a position many minority people do not believe. The police MUST build up that trust by turning in those officer who break that trust. Thus the officers in Furguson should go on trial for manslaughter and that charge be brought by the Missouri State Attorney General.
A nice statement like the one above will force the FOP to agree with it, and thus reject their own statement, or accept it and point out the need for accountability.
IronLionZion
(45,442 posts)Nice!
greyl
(22,990 posts)I haven't heard a quote from them that wasn't stupid - tea party stupid.
And it's like they aren't fighting for better salaries, they're fighting for power privileges.
... they are fighting for both.
It is astounding, you can tell from their comments and their attitude that saying "they don't get it" is the understatement of the century.
But as cops continue to eff up with impunity and with the assumption that everyone thinks as they do, something along the lines of "if we do it, it's legal", they are about to see their little sandbox taken away, at last.
Feral Child
(2,086 posts)marble falls
(57,093 posts)the chief.
malthaussen
(17,195 posts)1) The picture is only "controversial" because some ass took offense.
2) By giving said ass a venue to vent, they validate his postition.
As for the union, we've already had this discussion. Police unions are giving cops a bad name.
Last thought for the compaintant: if the shoe fits...
-- Mal
samsingh
(17,598 posts)Shemp Howard
(889 posts)...the Chief's sign had read "End Blue Silence" instead.
Sure, I get it that most (maybe all) police racism and police physical abuse can be traced back to white cops. But behind it all is the famous Blue Wall of Silence.
Frank Serpico (a white man) unsuccessfully fought against the Wall. And ex-Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper (a black man) used the Wall as cover to steal money from his department.
mountain grammy
(26,621 posts)MatthewStLouis
(904 posts)And isn't there always a little truth to the thing that bothers these thin skinned people?!
sarge43
(28,941 posts)Good.
MatthewStLouis
(904 posts)People (conservatives mostly) need to take off the blinders. Racism exists. Some conservatives used to, at the very least, admit that everyone can be racist. But now after over 6 years of non-stop racist anti-Obama commentary, they want to pretend we are in a post-racism utopia? Jeezus!
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)And the "union"s response is sadly so predictable.
WTF is it with these "police unions" . I thought unions were bastions
of justice, liberty and fairness, not bigotry, hate and corruption.
concreteblue
(626 posts)"Throw a rock over the fence, the dog that holler's the one you hit."
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)certainot
(9,090 posts)free speech free ride from the left to attack the people who move the conversation, and thereby distort it and end it as needed by the 1%'s think tanks, unchallenged by the left's orgs, which are made useless again by the right's rw radio advantage.
BobTheSubgenius
(11,563 posts)His message could apply to one, or even zero, active duty cops. Grow a skin, for one thing...and, more to the point, should he be silent, should he NOT confront racism at work? In police work, of ALL professions.
For some reason, a short clip from the Simpsons comes to mind: a Fox News helicopter with the slogan "Not Racist, But #1 With Racists."
cstanleytech
(26,291 posts)and you would think that a union would support making sure racism isnt happening in the work place.
johnnylefty2000
(73 posts)I would think the union would support fighting racism in the work place. Unions are there to support the workers, so fighting racism would be one way to make it easier on the workers there. If racism is a problem then the union needs to address it and help work towards fixing the problem. Also, this isn't calling the department racist, its speaking out against racism. Just because hes a cop does not mean he has to be a racist bastard. People also seem to forget that white cops aren't the only kind of cops.
drynberg
(1,648 posts)Turbineguy
(37,331 posts)who steals from you a thief. They are generally offended by it.