Remembering NYPD Police Officer Jonathan Diller
/I am sitting here this morning feeling numb over the senseless murder of NYPD Police Officer Jonathan Diller.
P.O. Diller was killed by a career criminal, with over twenty prior arrests, including a gun charge, during a traffic stop in Far Rockaway, Queens. I did not know Officer Diller, as I retired nearly twenty years ago, but I am proud to call him my brother. It is a family bond, not born through shared blood, but of one much stronger: the shared blood of those we have lost since the Department’s inception.
Growing up in Queens, my dream was to one day be a New York City Police Officer. That dream came to fruition in January 1985, when I was sworn-in to the Department. That dream became a nightmare exactly one year later when, as a rookie cop, I responded to the murder of Detective Anthony Venditti. Less than six months later, Police Officer Scott Gadell, a member of my squad in the 101 Precinct was murdered. I worked with Scott the night before, and nearly forty years later I can still recall the moments of that last night.
These two events drove home the harsh reality of being an NYPD cop. In the following years, the list of those making the ultimate sacrifice would grow longer and funerals became a common occurrence. Each one a reminder to those of us attending of the dangers we faced daily and a testament to the Department motto: Fidelis Ad Mortem, Faithful Unto Death.
While Officer Diller’s sacrifice will be solemnly recognized by his family, both blood and blue, it will be used as a platform for some of the most vile and reprehensible people I know: politicians.
Already, social media is rife with commentary from members of the New York City political scene, thumping their chest and decrying this senseless act. Yet these very same people are the ones directly responsible for the environment that caused it.
The truth is, being a cop is a thankless job. You are the enforcement arm of the state, and your presence never makes anyone feel better. We have the power to arrest and take away your rights. Most times we get it right, sometimes we don’t. Despite the training, despite the overwhelming desire to do good, we are only humans, just like everyone else, but we are expected to be better and we should be. It is however a requirement for any civilized society. We are the ones who willingly sacrifice our lives to protect the innocent.
Over the last decade plus, I have watched with dismay this growing trend to vilify the police at almost every turn and I have written about it before: STOP BLAMING THE COPS. Tragedies, exploited for cause, used to disparage the men and women of law enforcement. I get the politicians; they’ve become so dishonest that we don’t even realize the true extent that they lie for political gain. What bothers me is the average citizen who believes them. Perhaps it is a lack of civics in schools now, but it seems to me that most people don’t understand how our system of government operates.
Blaming the police for enforcing the law highlights the ignorance of people. We are the enforcement arm, but we are not the legislative arm. We take an oath and our duty is to enforce the law. The police do not create these laws, the politicians do. They are the same folks who stand in front of the cameras (or get on social media) and attack the police when an arrest goes bad, but neglect to mention that they are the ones who made the laws they expect the police to enforce. It’s a great job, because the average citizen buys into these nonsensical claims they make and keep re-electing them. Explain to me, like I’m three, how it makes any sense to you that politicians pass laws for the police to enforce, but at the same time condemn them for enforcing them? You’re damned if you do your job and you’re damned if you don’t.
I keep hoping that this will be the last time I have to express my outrage about another senseless murder of a NYC Cop, but I know it won’t be. It wasn’t the last time when I wrote about the deaths of Police Officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora. Nor was it the last when I wrote about the death of Police Officer Miosotis Familia, or Police Officer Brian Moore, or Police Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.
Having been a cop back in the 80s, when we were both short staffed and dealing with the explosion of drugs, I thought I’d seen it all, but as I look back, I realize how good we had it. Yes, the streets were dangerous, but the threat was always in front of us. We never really had to worry about being stabbed in the back by the politicians and, for the most part, the citizens supported us. I could not imagine trying to pursue my childhood dream of being a cop today.
The NYPD will soon bury our lost brother, and he will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and promoted to the rank of Detective. We will grieve his loss, alongside his family, but then the job will do what it has always done: Go back to work. Whether you like them or not, you need to remember that the men and women of the NYPD are the last line of defense; the brave souls who stand in the breach, against the violence and anarchy that lies in wait.
It would behoove the citizens of this once great city to wake up and decide who you are going to support. Those who work tirelessly to protect you or the politicians and district attorneys who have acted recklessly, who have pushed for soft on crime measures, and then lie and blame the police when those steps prove ineffective?
No one would be shocked if a child, who grew up watching one of their parents mentally and physically abuse the other, did the same thing when they grew up. Yet somehow we act shocked when our elected representatives sow the seeds of discontent, the fires of which are fanned by the media, that lead to these types of attacks being committed against on our police.
You elect them folks and they are your responsibility. If you no longer feel safe, if you are worried about becoming a victim every time you leave your home, then maybe it’s time to find new leadership. It took decades of NYC sinking into a cesspool of crime and poor quality of life conditions in order to elect Mayor Rudy Giuliani. It took much less time to piss it all away again. It’s up to you to change the course that the City is heading.
Don’t let Officer Diller’s death be in vain. Remember him when you head to the ballot box on election day; remember the wife and young child he left behind serving this once great City. Change begins when the good people of New York City stand up to the political cowards and say, ‘Enough.’
