Andrew Beatty

Tommaso, 5B

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/13/opinion/choke-first-ask-questions-later.html

Central Claim: The central claim of this article is that the New York Police Department is corrupt in all aspects of work. To begin with, the author comes right out and attacks the police in Eric Garner’s case stating that they violated section 203-11 of the departments Patrol Guide. He later goes on to state that the Departments Advocate’s Office and Raymond Kelly, the police commissioner at the time, had repeatedly rejected the board’s recommendations for severe punishment to police who use chokeholds, and decided to impose lesser penalties or none at all. The public’s confidence in its Police Department is shaken.

Significant Piece of Evidence: The significant piece of evidence used in this case is the policy 203-11 of the New York Police Patrol Guide that states: “Members of the New York City Police Department will NOT use chokeholds.” Eric Garner’s case is the reason why this policy is enforced. Police forcefully choked Garner until he begged for his life, later to die in the hospital. Reality is dangerous for civilians the author later states.

My Opinion: I believe the author makes a strong point in claiming the New York Police Department needs much improvement to gain the civilians trust back. Civilians around the country were shocked by the story of Eric Garner and these recent facts stating Raymond Kelly and the Department’s Advocate’s Office simply rejected the Civilian Complaint Board’s recommendations leading to little or no punishment make their trust even more slim. I agree with the author’s statement that reality is dangerous for civilians because one cannot simply resist arrest from police; They are untouchable.