Beat Cop to Top Cop: A Tale of Three Cities

6. Back to Headquarters Under Dinkins

6 BacktoHeadquartersunderdinkins “Dave, Do Something!” —n e w yor k p o s t H E A DL I N E M y new assignment at police headquarters was as commanding officer of the Chief of the Department’s Office, which meant running the office’s day-to-day operations. This would allow Deputy Chief Walsh to concentrate on the bigger issues facing the department, ranging from focusing on critical policy development to assisting operations in staffing a series of protests known as “Days of Outrage.” It also allowed me to be the understudy of Chief Walsh, who had a major skill that I lacked: attention to detail. Working under him made me understand how the department was organized, how to deploy thousands of officers to police a certain event, and how the budget was created. In other words, when you’re out in the field calling in various numbers and requests, you don’t necessarily understand the big picture. The NYPD is an organization of thirty thousand to forty thousand people, so it is quite possible to work in one area of the city and fail to recognize how that area relates to another precinct or, in fact, to the overall picture. In addition to working closely with Chief Walsh, I also was able to work next to the four-star chief, Robert Johnston. I had worked for Chief Johnston for about a year before I became captain. But now I was working with him, in the same office, and could see him in action baCk TO heaDqUaRTeRs 111 on a daily basis. By this point in his career, he had become an NYPD legend, one who was both feared and loved. To me, he was just a good guy, even if, at times, he was too demanding. Working with these two gentlemen provided me with a solid knowledge base that I used when I began to move into the upper ranks. The following summer, my education on how to handle catastrophic events involving the department grew as a result of an incident in Tompkins Square Park. Located in the East Village in Manhattan, the park has been the site of intermittent protests and riots going back more than a hundred years. The event that took place there in 1988 was no different , except the police commissioner himself described it as a police riot. Throughout the summer, there had been numerous events, including concerts, in the park. These would often require police intervention either to stop some nonsense or to reduce the volume of music. But one night, and it is still unclear who is to blame, all hell broke loose, and the police officers assigned to the park found themselves in a pitched battle with homeless people, radicals, and assorted other individuals. Because the police officers at the scene were outnumbered, a citywide assistance call went out. Police officers from as far away as the Bronx and Brooklyn responded. In addition, the captain at the scene called for air support—a helicopter to fly over and illuminate the park. The low-flying helicopter whipped up a lot of debris and created a lot of noise, which enhanced the sense of chaos. For those citizens who couldn’t see the chaos on the ground or hear the engines of the chopper, they could see the bright lights over the scene from two or three blocks away. Hundreds of curious onlookers went to the park to see what the excitement was all about. These innocent citizens confronted the dozens of running protesters leaving the park as they were chased by baton-wielding police officers. In the melee, there were clashes throughout the area around the park, and some curious onlookers were injured and, in some cases, arrested. Responding police officers from the outer boroughs came in with no supervision and little direction. This further added to the chaos. A lot of the police conduct that night was captured on home video cameras and displayed on the evening news on nearly every channel night after night over the next few weeks. Commissioner 112 New yORk CI T y Ward ordered an internal investigation of the officers who used unnecessary force and simultaneously created a panel to review police response and tactics at the event. The three-person panel was made up of the deputy commissioner of Public Information, Alice McGillian; the chief of the Organized Crime Bureau, Anthony Volker...