The Left's Favorite Myth
And why it's kept alive
In a recent interview with NYC Mayor Adams regarding murdered NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, a woke commentator attempted to turn the conversation instead to the purported killing of New York citizens by the police. The strong implication — as is generally the case in the media — is that there is an ongoing epidemic of police unjustifiably shooting black men across the country.
To his credit, Mayor Adams declined to fully engage with the woman, who was very aggressive, even disrespectful toward him. And her tone and timing as the good people of New York City mourn PO Diller was truly regrettable.
But looking at facts: Is there anything to what she says?
Now, a comparison of people who have been shot and killed feels beside the point at a time like this — one shooting death is one too many. But the myth of “police out of control” is exactly that: a myth fostered by progressives for their own purposes. Let’s look at some numbers.
According to The Washington Post’s “Police Shooting” database, after filtering for race and lack of a weapon, 16 unarmed black men were shot and killed by law enforcement in 2023. And as per the narrative surrounding these, the majority were either struggling with the officer, attempting to run the cop down with a car, or simulating a gun by reaching towards the waistband.
Here’s what the results look like (click the image to go to the database):
Sixteen. Not “thousands” as the routine wisdom has it. Not something happening “everyday.” Sixteen.
Is 16 deaths desirable? Acceptable? Of course not. But in light of the fact that police make millions of arrests each year and have tens of millions more encounters — and that most of even this 16 were deemed justified — I’d say those numbers are remarkable. What other profession could withstand such scrutiny?
Now let’s look at how many cops were shot and killed in 2023.
As per The Fraternal Order of Police, the shooting of police officers is up 60% since 2018, with last year setting a new record with 378 cops shot — roughly 1/3 of those by ambush.
And the total number of cops shot and killed in 2023 was: 46.
Now: Were all those cops shot by black men? Certainly not (I cannot find a statistical breakout for that). But that’s not the point. The point is not to set up some sort of competition here.
The point is that, increasingly, cops are operating in an atmosphere where perpetrators and politicians have triangulated against them. Simply using the numbers: It has never been more dangerous to do police work. Cops on the street feel that.
All cops. Male, female, of any race.
And at the same time the perps are operating with greater impunity: never in my lifetime has the work of the police been less supported by our political and media class. An entire political party — uncontradicted by an oblivious President — seems to have decided that people like P.O. Diller are not the solution. They’re the problem.
And yet despite that, these men and women are still showing up for work, still trying do the job, and are still demonstrating remarkable restraint.
Those are facts.
And here’s another fact: Mayor Adams should fire his briefing team. He should’ve been ready with similar facts for that interview.
Rolling Thunder
Police funerals always include a presence by the “specialized units” like Aviation (who does a helicopter flyover) and a drive-by from Highway Patrol.
My thanks to the reader who sent the below video of Highway doing their ceremonial drive-by, in what appears to be PO Diller’s Long Island neighborhood. Always a moving moment.
There was also a great many corsages and other displays of support, from all over… Here’s a nice one from the wake, featuring PO Diller’s shield number.
And here is posthumously promoted Detective Jonathan Diller’s Detective shield. The number — “1-10” — is his son’s birthday:
Hochul’s Folly
If there is any good to come out of PO Diller’s death, it may be that our political class is finally getting a direct message, unfiltered by our feckless media, from not just law enforcement but everyday New Yorkers.
That message is: Do something.
Unfortunately for her, Kathy Hochul became the poster-girl for this, when she was filmed being rebuffed at Detective Diller’s funeral, reportedly by a Diller relative.
But one has to ask: How could her team let that happen? Her events team had to have been aware of the sentiments of the Diller family regarding attendance by politicians.
I see one of two possibilities: (1) Hochul’s advance team — who are almost certainly New York State cops — didn’t warn her, and so let it happen because they know what she’s about; or (2) She’s so oblivious, she doesn’t realize how law enforcement and its supporters feel about her and her ilk.
Of course, it could be both. But one has to believe at least some element of option #2 was in play here. And unfortunately for Hochul, this will be what she’s remembered for.
But the message has become: Hochul, Adams, Bragg, the Albany legislature, the City Council: we’re not buying it anymore. You can gaslight us no longer. You’ve been told.
Will they act? Unlikely.
Which is why the left is losing blue collar voters, across race lines, every day. They just don’t seem capable of hearing common people anymore.
We should’ve elected Zeldin. We asked for it. (But Zeldin will be back, rest assured).
And finally…
Here’s what the beginning of a reckoning looks like… (click the image for the link)
Unless she suddenly discovers some political courage… that is her political legacy. She’s now the Bill Buckner of New York politics.
