De Blasio vs. NYPD: A Fight Between Workers’ Enemies

NEW YORK CITY, June 15 — In the wake of the decision not to indict the cop who murdered Eric Garner on Staten Island, an obvious rift opened between the New York Police Department (NYPD) and Mayor Bill de Blasio. It might be encouraging for workers to see the boss of New York City having trouble with his foot soldiers, but a class analysis can help us to put this event in context.
It only appears that the NYPD and New York’s bosses (represented by de Blasio) are having a conflict that threatens to disrupt the city. In essence,  both parties are on the same side — for the capitalist ruling class and against the workers. It is important to examine history to understand how integral the police are to maintaining ruling-class power.
The development of police forces in the U.S. was uneven and sporadic, from late 1700s and early 1800s. The models varied from torch-wielding “watchmen” to slave-chasing “posses,” which make it very clear that police were created to protect the ruling class’s power and property. The rulers also recognized that overt reliance on the military to enforce labor, property and other capitalist relations would not suffice. While police were forces developed control and put down workers’ rebellions, it was done in a way that appeared to be in workers’ best interests. (Hence the slogan: “To serve and protect.”)
Up until the early 1800s, there were few enough numbers of independent workers (outside slavery and indentured servitude) to limit the numbers of people allowed to gather at night. The protests and marches that took place during the U.S. war for independence had the blessing of the rulers — they saw them as a way to agitate against British control of the colonies. The rise of urban factories and mills in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, along with increasing population and a growing economy, led to large number of workers becoming concentrated in cities and towns. Racist riots against Black and Irish workers were permitted by the rulers from time to time. Even before the development of a regular police force, the watchmen routinely targeted the same workers being attacked.
The Pinkerton Model
Once formal police forces developed in the U.S., it was the Pinkerton National Detective Agency that gained traction. A private security force, the Pinkertons contracted out for President Abraham Lincoln’s security during the Civil War and served as the foot soldiers of capital against labor strikes and movements in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Steel workers in Homestead, Pennsylvania, and railroad workers in Illinois were viciously attacked by Pinkertons at the behest of capitalists. Municipal and regional police forces modeled their structure on the Pinkertons, adopting their focus on serving the interests of the ruling class. This was manifested in cops breaking strikes and assassinating or imprisoning communists and other workers.
Police forces have only existed in their current form for the last century, having developed and sharpened into a weapon against the workers. The bottom line — the police are not here to serve and protect workers, in New York City or elsewhere. They are the capitalist system’s muscle, serving and protecting the bosses while killing and arresting workers with impunity.
The NYPD is looked to by police departments around the world as a model for examples of successful working-class control. Commissioner William Bratton recently created the Strategic Response Group, made up of heavily armed and trained officers to deal with “disturbances” — as defined by the police. In justifying this new unit, Bratton raised examples of recent shootings in Paris, claiming that extreme quick-reaction cops are needed as an anti-terror unit. Bratton has lately called for the misdemeanor offense of resisting arrest to be a changed to a felony, seeking to further terrorize workers who are singled out by police.
The Racist PBA
The Patrolman’s Benevolent Association (PBA), the cops’ union in New York City, has a racist history, one mirrored by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) of Chicago. Both have organized legal defenses lasting years for cops charged with misconduct and murder and orchestrated police riots through Black and Latin neighborhoods to protest budget cuts that would shrink the police force. The FOP regularly opposes efforts to memorialize Fred Hampton, the Black Panther Party leader murdered by Chicago police in 1969.
In New York City, any suggestion by de Blasio or other government officials that police officers acted inappropriately regarding Eric Garner or Akai Gurley results in bombastic, combative vitriol by PBA president Patrick Lynch (fitting name). Expect the rhetoric to grow with the recent re-election of Lynch. His main challenger, Brian Fusco, accused Lynch of “rudderless leadership.” He criticized Lynch not because he disagreed with his racist rants, but because he sought to best him in intimidating workers. The public relationship between the NYPD and de Blasio will remain the same as long as NYPD continue to be without a contract, the status quo for the last five years.
Disagreement Among Thieves
Amid the militarization of the police and racist cop unions, it is important to read the supposed dispute between de Blasio and the PBA for what it is: a disagreement among thieves. Capitalist democracy encourages such misleading appearances.  Cops may turn their backs on the mayor at police funerals or join a work slow-down. But, when we look at the essence of police forces and their role in society, we realize that the PBA-de Blasio feud is but another mirage to buttress one of the biggest capitalist lies: “Politicians are fighting for you — the system works.”
Liberal Pols Want More Cops
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito makes general calls for “good policing” and a more transparent justice system. Other City Council liberals propose increased funding for legal Aid access, a bail fund for people who cannot otherwise afford bail for minor offenses, and other small, steam-releasing measures.
City Councilman Jumaane Williams stated that the cop who killed Akai Gurley must have been "well-intentioned" to join the police force, looking to make a "positive impact on the community." He suggested that if rookie police officers were not patrolling high-crime areas (where police fill quotas with arrests), then such tragedies would not occur. Councilman Williams claims that a little tinkering will right the system.
Yet while decrying the “avoidable” killing of Akai Gurley, Williams and his buddies continue to press for 1,000 new cops, to expand policing, increasing the jail-like monitoring, harassment, assault and murder of endured by workers.
Whenever the kkkops murder a young Black or Latin worker, there are calls for police reform and the ideas are seemingly endless: civilian review boards, federal oversight, sensitivity training, equipping cops with Tasers, body cameras and so on. Some of these calls come from honest workers who hate the racist attacks by the cops and want to protect their friends and loved ones.
Given the long, racist history of police forces and their essential role as protectors of capitalist profit, these calls are doomed to fail. The police have always, and will always, be racist terrorizers of the working class. Only when we get rid of capitalism will we free from police. This is a goal of Progressive Labor Party, and we need your help.