"Whether you're a truck driver or a lifeguard, if you're caught drinking, odds are good that you'll wind up losing your job -- right? Well, except, that is, if you're a New York City cop.
That's what today's edition of New York Daily News reports, in a story which finds that since 1999, fully 55 active-duty cops have been charged with drunk driving while serving on the force. All of them pleaded down to nonfelony charges -- and almost all of them kept their jobs.
On further inspection, the thin blue line starts to look wobblier and wobblier. At least one case included that of a sergeant who "seriously injured" passengers in another car. Another included a cop who was charged with resisting arrest. What's more, in at least four cases, the NYPD had no problem allowing cops with prior drunken-driving convictions onto the force.
Here's just a sampling of some of the recent headlines that have bruised the force's reputation. In September, one liquored-up officer ran down the Brooklyn daughter of a preacher, as she left a Flatlands wedding in the company of her 5-year-old god-daughter. Both the officer -- later found "reeking of alcohol" -- and his passengers (including a fellow-off-duty cop) absconded as the woman lay dying at the scene. (The officer's Facebook page boasted the slogan: "DRINK UP LIFE IS TOO SHORT!!!" Not making this up.)
The next month, Detective Kevin Spellman was busted for drunk driving after his night shift, when he mowed over a Bronx grandmother (while driving a government-owned Chevrolet Impala). The woman, a 67-year-old Albanian immigrant with nine grandchildren, was pushing a shopping cart through the street while collecting recyclable cans and bottles. (The officer refused to take a breathalyzer test at the scene.)
Cops that are charged with drunk-driving misdemeanors or violations generally get to keep their jobs -- slapped only with a possible suspension, loss of vacation days, or time on probation. There's also no policy that requires police to submit to sobriety tests.
Cue talk of bad apples -- and of course, in a force numbering some 30,000 people, we are talking about what amounts to a few bad (deadly, reprehensible) apples here. But as the Daily News reports, it's more than that, too -- it's the institutional unwillingness to react to such cases that should leave New Yorkers truly outraged."
Opinion: I Don't care who you are, what you are, or what you do. Even if your a cop, if you get cought driving and drinking, or drunk and driving, the situation should be treated the same as others. If your a cop you should be in more trouble if anything. If any thing you should not be doing illegaly things. Come on now you put people who drink and drive who use drugs, behind bars everyday your their role models. It gets me very angry whencops abuse their power!!!
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