by On March 14, 2007 two, young, volunteer, NYPD Auxiliary police officers were murdered gangland style in Greenwich Village, by a crazy guy with a gun. Both volunteers were in pursuit of the killer who had just gunned down a pizzeria worker. Here’s the execution of one Auxiliary officer caught on tape. The killer crosses the street to shoot the Auxiliary officer crouching for cover behind a car:
Next, the killer fires his gun from behind his victim, execution style:
Moments later the real NYPD officers arrive to kill the shooter and take the Auxiliary officer to the hospital where, later, he was pronounced dead:
The death of these two volunteers has made New York City stop to ponder if the NYPD Auxiliary Community Policing program is appropriate or not. NYPD Auxiliary officers are volunteers.
They are not paid. They get no benefits. They are not allowed to carry guns or mace or tasers or weapons of any type. They do not wear bulletproof vests. Some Auxiliary officers are allowed to drive Auxiliary police cars on patrol.
There are currently over 4,800 Auxiliary police officers patrolling New York City. There is great confusion in the minds of many New Yorkers when it comes to the NYPD Auxiliary police program. Are the Auxiliary police the “real police” or not? The answer is — they are volunteers and not police officers — but many think NYC wants you to believe the Auxiliary police are the same as official police officers because it gives the NYPD 4,800 more bodies on the street providing the illusion of a greater official police presence than really exists.
If you can get away with not paying 4,800 people who will walk the streets for you in exchange for a neat uniform and a sense of belonging, it makes fiscal and public relations sense to provide those volunteers with the myth of being a part of NYPD officialdom. How many people know “Auxiliary” means “providing additional help?”
Auxiliary police officer uniforms have the same unified “look and feel” of an official NYPD uniform. Their badges look like Sheriff stars and not the NYPD shield — but the uniform color and fit of the Auxiliary police and official NYPD police are basically the same. Here’s the official NYPD uniform patch:
Here’s the Auxiliary police uniform patch:
Both patches look alarmingly the same, don’t they? Is that striking similarity by design or by chance? I can tell you from personal observation the NYPD Auxiliary police act, behave and talk like wannabee official police officers.
They strut around neighborhoods questioning people and giving people the stink eye — now I’m all in favor of that kind of “eyes and feet on the street” because it gives a sense of satiety to those who are fearful of their neighbors — but I am not in favor of Auxiliary police leading people to believe they are official officers for the City of New York when they are not. The NYPD Auxiliary police are really The Pretend Police. Real police officers are vetted and tested and trained in all aspects of the law.
Auxiliary police are not. Auxiliary police are nothing more than eager and loyal volunteers. If the NYPD and the City of New York feel Auxiliary volunteers are more than that then they should treat them as more than that. The first step in making sure we don’t have future assassinations of Auxiliary police is to make it visually clear that Auxiliary police are not official NYPD officers.
We take that step by creating stark differences in uniforms. I realize a big lure in being an Auxiliary police officer is the ability to dress up and pretend to be the NYPD — but it is that very danger of false pretense, that very sense of imitation authority that led two young Auxiliary officers to their deaths on a cold Greenwich Village street. The NYPD does not really like Curtis Sliwa’s international neighborhood patrol — The Guardian Angels — even though the Angels share the same mission of the NYPD Auxiliary program: Community policing.
The NYPD feels the Guardian Angels are a vigilante group that answers to no one. I argue the NYPD Auxiliary police program answers to no one. Asking volunteers to basically pretend to be the official police when they are not is no different than the Guardian Angels walking the streets to report suspicious activity to the police. The biggest difference between the Guardian Angels and the NYPD Auxiliary police is the look and feel of the uniforms:
There is no visual or aesthetic doubt that the Angels — in their bright burgundy berets and neon red jackets — are not the NYPD. The NYPD Auxiliary police should be dressed in a similar sort of, Guardian Angels-like, style while patrolling the street to make it completely clear to everyone they are not official NYPD officers.
If that distinction with a darkling difference had been made clearer on the night of March 14, perhaps two young men would not be dead after being mistaken as official carriers of deadly force.
I once inquired about being an auxiliary police officer and what it meant – what should I do in a situation like the one above, where there is a criminal who has just fled a building? They told me that the auxiliary were not meant to pursue criminals but were to only use their shoulder communication devices which would get the gun toting police officers there within a minute or two. The idea is that they keep an eye out for crime and are not supposed to try to be police officers.
You said it all here: Both volunteers were in pursuit of the killer – they were not doing what they were supposed to be doing.
It’s kind of like using a toilet cleaner for personal hygiene.
Hi Gordon —
I appreciate your real life view of this matter.
I realize, in theory, the Aux police are not to pursue or act like anything but reporters to the real authorities — but, in the practice of the real street, they DO act like real cops and people around them who don’t know any better accept them as real cops. That’s a big danger waiting to happen as evidenced in the recent killings.
I’m sure the killer thought he was being pursued by real cops and not pretend ones — that’s what makes the whole matter so miserably depressive.
Now there’s talk of making the two dead Aux officers “real officers” in death — giving them a real shield, and death benefits so they can be put on the “Killed in the Line of Duty” wall. They were given an official police burial. I think the burial is fine, but to go back in time and try to make them what they were not in life — real officers — after their deaths, is just wrong and ghoulish.
Our local newspaper came out against a plan to add additional volunteers to Gary, Indiana’s auxillary force saying:
The one good thing is that the auxiliary police officers in Gary are allowed to carry firearms. If I was a police officer or auxiliary officer, I would never want to be on the street in a police uniform without a firearm since all the bad guys are usually heavily armed.
A huge danger of the auxiliary police program is that it could be a way for people who shouldn’t get a badge to get a badge.
Source: CBS2Chicago.
If police departments want to use auxiliary police officers, they should at the least send them to the state police academy to get the same training as all other police officers in the state. That way, it would weed out the “bad apples” and insure everyone working for a department — paid or unpaid — had the same skills and training.
Chris!
You make several excellent points! I’m all for a community policing program — just put them in bright green uniforms that boldly identify them as COMMUNITY FRIENDS or something so everyone will know they’re available to help and not to take down the bad guys with deadly force.
When you mix look-alike uniforms and intentions you get in trouble. I don’t think Aux cops should have guns. If you’re going to give them the opportunity to use deadly force, then swear them in as full officer, give them vests and training and full benefits. I don’t think a gun makes an officer, but a gun makes a pretend officer bold in bad ways.
Many of the Aux Cops in NYC are older. It’s sort of a big, fun thing for older people to walk the streets and have a direct radio tie into the local police network. It’s that very tether, though, that makes the younger Aux kids ripe for abuse. If they order you around or don’t like how you look, all they need to do to cause you a bad day is radio in and the “real cops” will be there in a flash to take care of you. That is way too much power in volunteer hands. They’re more than eyes and ears — they’re secondary portals for arrest and possible harassment and abuse — but without the legal tethers or checks and balances the real cops have to honor.
The Guardian Angels got started in the ghettos where the police feared to tread. They were sick of being beaten up by bad guys and gang members — and the police would not respond to calls for help — and they stood up as a community to fight back. It was, and is, a great idea.
Hi David,
In my city, the auxiliary police officers look like big Boy Scouts because they wear tan uniforms. They usually direct traffic during special events and drive by parks to keep an extra eye out for trouble.
You are right about the auxiliary officers carrying guns. If they are going to be doing police duties — such as patrolling — they should be sworn in and trained as regular police officers.
The Post-Tribune editorial against adding to the Gary PD auxiliary force told of an incident where an auxiliary officer discharged his weapon while making an arrest.
Source: Post-Tribune.
Police work isn’t a job that can be done halfway since officers are the first line of defense against people who don’t believe in society or care about life.
All officers should be sent to the police academy, trained, and sworn as regular officers — even if they choose to volunteer their services. If cost is an issue, then the volunteers could offer to pay tuition to the police academy since some might argue that someone will volunteer to get free training subsidized by the city, then get a job at a suburban department.
In reference to ‘Gary’s 50’, doesn’t the idea of badly trained, armed, volunteers who look like professionals make anyone feel uncomfortable? Eventually something bad will happen, they’ll be out of their depth and/or over enthusiastic (rather like the poor volunteers in NYC), and either manage to get themselves killed or end up killing someone they shouldn’t have.
If there’s a need for 50 more police on the streets, then maybe employing 50 more is a better way out that a stop-gap of people who look like police.
Here in the UK we have ‘community support officers’. I’m not exactly sure what their purpose is, as they can’t really do anything either, but at least it frees up real officers to go and deal with crimes rather than stand around on the streets. Armed criminals are less of an issue here, more likely to get stabbed, and police always seem to have stab or bullet proof vests on.
Chris —
I like the “Big Boy Scout” idea! That’s precisely the role they should be playing. Open, eager, and willing to help those in trouble by placing a direct call into a local precinct. There’s no pretending that they’re more than they seem.
I don’t even like the idea that an Aux Cop is putting hands on a thief! Why? What if the bad guy gets the gun? It’s so dangerous and silly and could put other innocents on the street directly in harm’s way.
A friend of mine — just an ordinary guy — saw a bad dude steal a purse from an old lady in Greenwich Village many years ago. My friend chased after him on foot — keeping a full block between him and the bad guy — and the second he found a cop he was going to point out the guy and then let the real police do their job.
After 10 blocks or so, the bad guy caught on that he was being followed and would yell back at my friend every so often, “I’m gonna shoot you! Stop following me!”
My friend would shout back, “You have to catch me first!”
After chasing the guy for 50 blocks uptown — it slowed to a walk after about 15 blocks 😀 my friend found a cop, pointed out the guy and the arrest was made.
Now THAT’s the sort of community policing we need — but my friend was in real danger because if the guy had a gun, he’d be in trouble.
My friend was lucky that, at the time, the most dangerous handgun on the street was a Saturday Night Special. That gun can kill you if aimed just right at close range, but a Glock is certainly more of a guaranteed death from a much larger distance.
My friend told me if the guy ever turned around on him and came after him, my friend would’ve turned the corner and run away from the guy. That’s why he always kept a city block between them.
Ben!
Yes, that’s it! You have a bunch of untrained people thinking they’re real police officers. That’s a cauldron of bad intent ready to happen.
The Aux Cops in NYC don’t mess with the really bad guys on the street. They know they’ll have a knife across their throat before they finish their radio call for help.
So the Aux Cops tend to focus on the weak and the innocent: Kids, women and tourists. They’re a bit heavy-handed at times and are more a source of negative “I’m watching you!” energy than a warmer, “I’m here to help you” vibe. Street energy is important and something you need to learn to tamp down, temper, or back up with real authority and a gun that can shoot real bullets.
Your UK version sounds fascinating. Do the “Real Cops” in the UK carry weapons? What do your community police people do while on patrol?
There is great statistical evidence that keeping the peace in a neighborhood is as easy as having a regular beat cop — a Real Cop — there, walking, every single day so he becomes a fixture in the area. People know the cop, they report the bad guys, and the bad guys know not to mess with the cop: The Community watches the cop’s back. Having “a cop on every street corner” is extremely expensive, though. You’d think with almost 40,000 cops in NYC that would be enough, but I guess having an extra 4,800 bodies out there helps more than it hurts –- at least it did before March 14.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/misc/pdfaq2.html#41
Hi David,
Your friend sounds like a remarkable person because there are only a few people who would chase someone so many blocks on foot before giving up.
Around Christmas time there was a story about some young people chasing down a thief who had snatched an elderly woman’s purse that exemplifies the same heroism that regular people rise to when confronted by circumstances.
My friend is a great guy. He’s been teaching at NYU forever.
It’s important for good people to stand up in the right way to the bad guys. If we rise above them while not letting them of the hook, the entire community is better for the effort.
CSOs have pretty minor powers, but can arrest people. It varies by region. They can get body armour but aren’t armed, but again I think it varies by region. Not entirely sure anyone is really completely clear on the role and purpose of CSOs, including the police or politicians who voted it in.
Police generally here are only armed with a baton and vest. You do get armed police sometimes, not very common though. Generally if they’re armed it’s armed in a big way, submachines guns and so on. I think the idea is you don’t get your men shot at or encourage criminals to carry guns, but if needs be then you can completely outgun them with well trained marksmen. Besides it’s rather traditional that policemen aren’t armed.
Ben —
So were CSOs more a political mandate or a fiscal policy?
I like the idea of everyone being unarmed — including the police. It makes for much fairer and safer policing all around.
Hi David,
The problem with everyone being unarmed is the old cliche about only criminals having arms. In these days of relatively open borders and billions of weapons floating around, even the strictest national gun control laws don’t stop someone determined to smuggle guns into a country.
A cop in England was complaining that he has to run away from criminals and hope they get picked up by armed officers in the future.
From the Washington Post:
Chris —
Even with the cops having guns, the bad guys still have better weapons as witness by the Los Angeles bank robbers who “out gunned” the LAPD with their assault rifles and full body armor.
http://www.lapd.com/article.aspx?a=4825
I’m not convinced that more police firepower means “more better” and I sort of like the UK mantra that when the anomaly happens — a man with a gun — you turn around and run because it is pretty smart and non-confrontational until the real help can be called up to disarm him.
I don’t know any big city police officers in favor of having regular citizens carrying firearms and that includes legally or illegally concealed weapons of any kind.
I also think the research is pretty clear between the UK and the USA in homicide rates by gunshot. The USA leads the world.
http://www.mail-archive.com/firearmsregprof@lists.ucla.edu/msg00867.html
The NYC Auxiliary Police is an interesting program. I can’t believe that city would allow them to wear the same uniform as police without providing proper training. Don’t they carry weapons to defend themselves? Are you suggesting that if the city wants them to patrol in uniform that they should receive the same training as real police? I would like to see the video that you posted clips from.
Welcome to Urban Semiotic, James!
The Aux Cops have no weapons. They only have radios. They get some rudimentary training, but not the same sort of in-depth education that the “real police” get in the academy.
Yes, I’m suggesting the Aux Cops get at least the same training as official officers.
You can find the full video on the NYC CBS2 news website.
In my small town in Westchester all of our auxiliaries recieve trainning by the county police and are required to participate in additional as it becomes available. We have been giving body armor to armed and unarmed officers. We are the eyes and ears of the regulars. We have had many leave our ranks and become regulars. We constantly stress courteous and professional service to our officers and are very well respected by civilians and police. The regulars often call upon the “auxies” for a hand in times of need. Lets keep in mind that WELL trained auxiliaries are a tremendous asset to the community.
An proud Auxiliart Captain in Westchester County New York.
As an NYPD Auxiliary Officer since 1993 I am shocked by your article. The fact is that the gunman in the Village would have shot any uniformed person he thought was in his way. In fact when cornered by “real” police he shot it out with them and was killed by “real” police gunfire. I thank you for your definition of the word Auxiliary. However I invite you to look at the history of Auxiliary Police. Since the 1700’s in England there has been some sort of civilian police organization. Presently in England there are Special Constables who are unpaid volunteers who have the full (although part time) authority of regular paid Constables. The CSO’s Community Support Officers are paid officers who are roughly equivalent to what some U.S. city’s call code enforcement officers although CSO’s in the UK do have some police powers. If you do some research you will see that across the planet from the America’s to Asia there are countries with Auxiliary/Reserve/Special Officers who volunteer their time.
The most important thing I need to communicate to you is why I and over 4,000 other of my fellow New Yorkers dress up and “play cop”…BECAUSE WE GIVE A D*MN…. I am not content to sit idly by and do nothing to contribute to the safety of this city. I have lived in New York for 40 years. I lived through the crack wars and the long hot summers. I worked with the NYPD in the LIMITED role of an Auxiliary officer to make my community safe. Now NYC is on the way to being the safest large city in the world with the lowest crime rate in decades. If you want to complain about us first come on patrol with me. Do some “real journalism” Find out what we are really taught and what we really do. That is also called “Real Research”
I include the links below so you can see what other people on the planet are doing to help their communities be safer places to live.
http://www.metpolicecareers.co.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=32
http://www.yonkersauxiliarypolice.homestead.com/home.html
http://www.essexsheriff.com/ecs13.htm
[Comment edited for content by David W. Boles]
Welcome to Urban Semiotic, Charles. We do not curse on this blog so I have edited you comment to remove the cursing.
We also have a long and proud line of published articles here supporting the proper police and their selfless dedication to protecting and serving as the first and last line of defense against all bad intentions.
We have had a generous discussion here of the role of community policing in the comments. Let’s focus instead on the NYPD Auxiliary program you have stepped forward to represent and defend.
Is it NYPD Auxiliary police policy to follow people and suspects? If that is your training, what are you expected to do once you catch the person you are following? Does the NYPD provide you weapons, handcuffs or other implements to properly arrest and detain someone?
Does the NYPD provide Aux Officers hardened vests? If not, why not? If not, is it because the NYPD expects the Aux Officers to not find life-threatening situations?
Does the NYPD consider you police officers, deputies, or something else?
Thanks for putting 4800 people at RISK!!! auxiliary police are exactly that, assistants to the regular police. When a person like you tells the criminals and other up to no good idiots in society that Aux Police in NY have no authority, then when Auxiliary are now confronted by someone, they are going to be challenged, since you put it out there like that. People before had no idea that they had no kind of authority so someone up to no good might think twice, but NOT anymore. Thank God I live in Baltimore Co.MD, where we have Auxiliary Police and they DO have authority and can arrest idiots like the likes of the person in NY, and I am PROUD to be one of those AUXILIARY, come to Md and maybe I’ll meet you and show you what an Aux. can do.
Welcome to Urban Semiotic, Dave.
Your anger and hostility are unfortunate and misplaced. I have done nothing but provide the truth of a sorry situation in New York City.
If you’re arguing a secret has been revealed, the truth has been put to the lie, and deaths of two auxiliary police officers has demonstrated a problem with the NYC Aux police program, then I’m not the only once who deserves that credit.
The major media are also guilty in your false condemnation as is the NYPD itself who openly said the program needs to be fixed and they were open to “all discussions” on the matter.
The real criminals already know the status of the NYC Aux police as we have thoroughly discussed previously in this comments thread.
If your last sentence is intended as a threat — you are once again proving why the idea of having and auxiliary police force is not a good idea — because making even implied threats to safety and wellbeing over the internet is a crime.
What is your real full name and which police precinct do you volunteer to serve?
Hi!
I’m a NYPD auxiliary officer too (female, Hispanic 30 y.o). Every time I hear on the radio about an on-going robbery in the neighborhood I STAY WHERE I AM. I think what those aux did was totally crazy! That type of jobs are for the officers, not for us! It’s the first thing they teach you in class. We are not trained to handle those type of situations or deal with a guy carrying a fire arm.
I’ve patrolled with many auxies who like to play “Swat Team”. I think it’s plain crazy that a volunteer would put himself in such unsafe situations. I hope people wil learn a lesson after this tragic event. Seriously. If you want to play swat team become a PO AND STOP VOLUNTEERING!
Welcome to Urban Semiotic, Patricia, and thank you for your real world experience as an NYPD Auxiliary Officer.
We appreciate your direct experience and insight into this important matter with deadly consequences.
We wish you the best and we will hope for your safety and we are certain you will have a bright future.
There are others in this thread trying to warp the topic to their Aux lives and their precincts — but I want the comments to focus from now on with the NYPD and their Auxiliary Officer program.
Thanks again!
First of all i’m an NYC Aux officer, I don’t think it would be to wise to make aux officers wear different uniforms , because it would make them more of a target. What if an APO comes upon someone commiting a crime 99.999% of the time the suspect will think its the nypd and either take off or give up but if Aux officers were not wearing the same uniform i think people would challenge them more, causing more confrontations and injuries to Aux officers and the people that are commiting the crimes. Say someone is doig something illegal and they see an Aux officer they know the officer has no weapon and that the officer is gonna radio it in to the nypd what action do you think that individual will take to save his or her self from getting arrested. I do agree with you that Aux officers need more training and they should also be better equipped. The actions taken by Aux officers Marshalik, and Pekearo were not what we were taught to do in that situation but i do think if they had not pursued Garvin, many more people might have been killed, they are heroes. NYPD Auxiliary officers are repeatedly told that they are not police officers they are Private citizens “the eyes and ears of the police department”
Welcome to Urban Semiotic, Andrew! We appreciate your on-the-street experience as an Auxiliary Police Officer in NYC. We stand with you in tone and tenor.
I use to be a Aux Police Officer in NYC for 7 years.. First let me tell you yes they are not Police Officers. They are heros patrolling the streets for NO PAY to keep people like you safe from the criminal element. There are a lot of times when people are rob/beating/raped/stab/etc and no one does anything. However the Aux Officers who provide a uniform presence do not just stand around with there hands in there pocket. They respond when no one else is there. There have been money times I have helped the citizens of New York from becoming a victim or have chased someone for committing a crime. At least I did something. I knew that I might have been hurt or killed. In my book the Auxiliary Officers are all heros. The City Of New York should make them Peace Officers and provide them with all available resources.
God Bless
Joe Herrera
Former NYC Aux Police Officer
Stop all the arguments! All we(auxiliary police officers)need are better trainnings and properly armed with weapon, so we can help our community in the right way(instead of running away when someone needs immediate help) and protect ourselves in those dangerous situations.
We are closing comments on this article.
We are getting Spam messages — angry, unwise, embarrassing, accusatory and unnecessary messages — from those who claim to be NYPD Auxiliary officers.
Since we have no way to identify them or to prove or disprove their claims — we frankly hope they are not Auxiliary Officers because their messages are cruel, unworldly and incredibly brittle and angry and that’s just the sort of person you do not want on the mean streets of NYC and America — so we’re forced to close the comments.
We have, however, saved all those inflammatory messages and their specific tracking identifying information in case the threats contained therein become reality.
Don’t try to post comments elsewhere here or send flame email on this topic because they will all be Blacklisted and go unread. We also want to remind you it is illegal to harass or otherwise provoke, threaten or abuse private information.
We are grateful to those of you who have provided us support and protection from these threats and we certainly will stay in touch and take you up on your offer to help if the harassment/et. al continues.
Our position is, and has always been, that the NYPD Police Force deserves more full-time and fully paid officers — they should not have to rely on Auxiliary Officers for help in policing the streets and neighborhoods of New York City.
We have many articles here that support police officers, the letter of the law, loyalty to moral duty and the eradication of handguns and illegal weapons — so make sure you read everything here before you start flinging around assumptions and claims that are patently untrue.
The deaths of the two Auxiliary Officers was a terrible thing. It has been suggested here in other comments that those Auxiliary Officers did not follow their training and that decision led them to a terrible end.
We thank those of you who have taken time to not be brittle or easily insulted, and who helped explain, and make clear, the mission of policing and auxiliary watching and reporting in New York City and we certainly stand with you in trying to make NYC a safer place for everyone with reasonable behavior, stated expectation and a following of the rules and protocols of behavior set in place that are intended to protect us all.
First off auxillary police officers should be just that, supplemental officers. Key emphasis on “officers”; they should be trained, sworn in, allowed to carry firearms and use deadly force. To place an unarmed man on the streets to patrol an area of criminal activity with just a radio on his shoulder is criminal. You’re signing the mans death warrant, its just a matter of time. Regarding Gary Indiana’s Auxillary Police program… When Scott L. King was mayor years ago he hired auxillary officers with not so much as a peep from the police commission. Rudy Clay become mayor after King stepped down, for unspecified reasons (King had then allied himself with Party big wigs downstate). Clay, was approached at his own fundraiser around the time King was rumored to be mullying resignation and declined to endorse then deputy mayor, Dozier Allen, at the bequest of former politico big wig East Chicago Mayor Bob Pastrick. Clay gets the nod from city commission and suddenly, the Police Commission starts screaming about the number of auxillary officers on the force and wanting to have complete control over the reservists. My, my, my, looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, must be a duck. Here’s where I lose my objectivity and it gets personal, so beware, this is just my opinion. And a liberal one at that.. Gary has a population of roughly 100,000 residents, 84% of whom are of Afro-American decent. Gary’s Sworn Police force, has been made up of prodominately non-resident Anglo-American, officers. Now a Black democratic mayor, in a majority Black city suddenly wants to put more of the city’s residents on the streets as reserve officers to help continue the city’s reduction in violent crime. (Who knows where the hot spots are better than the people who live there, right?) Gary’s infrastructure is improving by leaps and bounds. Named #1 place for real estate investment by HomeVestors of America (2006), #38 best place for jobs in America by Forbes (2008), (That’s not a misprint – “Forbes”), and is undertaking a $100 Million dollar upgrade of it’s airport. Its the largest city in Lake County Indiana, 25 miles from Chicago. All this improvement going on and Clays at the helm. That’s called a changing of the guard, and for the better I might add. Seems like a lot of folks just don’t take to change very well. So the Police Commission can go sit back on it’s fat, republican padded seats, (like it did when US Steel downsized and the city’s crime rate shot through the roof, emphasis on “shot”) and let the man run his city. And if the city’s reserve officers need more training, I’m sure that Mayor Rudy Clay will see to it. He’s seen to just about everything else so far.
HoosierBrain —
Thank you for your excellent and detailed explanation of what’s happening in Gary. Your insight is appreciated and valuable.
I want to point out that they do carry a baton and a police radio.