Death of a Police Officer

There’s this politically correct narrative happening right before our eyes around the killing of NYPD Officer Randolph Holder, that police lives matter more than Black lives, and other lives. Of course, this is just one more senseless killing in Gotham, and we should not elevate it above all the other senseless killings. We should be outraged by this killing, no more, no less, than the killing of an 18-year-old in downtown Brooklyn yesterday evening. And when we respond with outrage to any of these senseless killings, we should do so because we are outraged, NOT because it’s the politically correct thing to do, or because, in the aftermath of the killing of P.O. Holder, there is criticism of our response or lack thereof. I’m talking about the usual suspects, Al Sharpton and other community activists, who didn’t immediately respond to this senseless killing until there was criticism of them in the tabloids. On the other hand, when cops kill innocent people, the victims are vilified, law enforcement digs up and releases to the media things about them not known by the cops when they killed them, and One Police Plaza quickly looks to justify these killings. Dig up some dirt on a cop that’s killed and watch how quickly elected officials and others from the thick blue line go ballistic. The tabloids never jump on Patrick Lynch and practically demand that he express outrage when one of the men (or women) in blue he represents kills someone under highly questionable circumstances. We already know Lynch’s narrative, regardless of the circumstances. I get that he knows where his allegiance lies, and that he sees no evil from cops, hears no evil from cops, and he’s certainly not going to speak any evil about cops. If others on the other side of the thick blue line took a similar stand….

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About William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

William Eric Waters is an award-winning poet, fiction writer, essayist, educator, criminal-justice scholar, and nonprofit executive. Writing as William E. Waters, he is the author of the epic poem Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass and three poetry collections: Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, The Black Feminine Mystique, and The Black Blood of Poetry. Under the pen name Easy Waters, he is the author of the novel Streets of Rage and the short-story collection Conundrums: Stories of Law & Justice. His work explores Black history, race, law, punishment, institutional power, accountability, redemption, and resilience.
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