I love smart cops. And I love cops than can write. After all, a lot of policing is about what you can articulate in writing. Here’s an op-ed in the New York Daily News from NYPD Captain Brandon del Pozo. He’s smarter than your average bear.
The bailout: What would cops and firefighters do to save the economy?
If companies like AIG could somehow be fixed by cops and firefighters, we’d be in much better shape. When terrorists attacked New York City on 9/11, cops and firefighters worked around the clock, in dangerous conditions, with no days off. Afterwards, many of them enlisted in the military and fought overseas to keep their nation secure. The need for self-sacrifice was obvious and they did not hesitate to do what was asked of them.
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If a fire department accidentally set an occupied building on fire, you’d see its men and women working to put that fire out, ashamed and maybe working for free. The idea of demanding a huge bonus to correct their own mistake would seem vulgar to them.
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Execs returning lavish pay they don’t deserve is a good one, and we should take it as a first step toward getting their moral bearings back.
Read the whole piece here.
Interesting comment. But it’s my understanding that most of the people who caused the problem at AIG have gone. Those that remain either work in divisions that are allegedly bascially sound or have come on board since the problems came to light.
If that is the case, shouldn’t the question be how would cops and firefighters react to a fire set by other city workers, say, the public works department or parks and recreation?
Or how they would react to a fire set by other firefighters.
Answer: They would put it out, on principle.
Here’s an AIG employee’s resignation letter:
nytimes.com/2009/03/25/opinion/25desantis.html