The calculus of impunity

The email was brief but impactful, just like the New Yorker who sent it: “Thought this might interest you.” Attached was video of several NYPD officers responding to a disorderly crowd in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park. The officers were pelted with snowballs and other debris by an overflow and unforgiving horde. Some suffered lacerations that resulted in a hospital visit.

It is no secret that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has been a fierce critic of policing, dismissed it as “a snowball fight” arguing that no one should be prosecuted. Make no mistake: words and tone matter and breeds a culture where hostility toward police becomes acceptable.

This was not a winter game gone awry; rather, it was unlawful conduct with willful disregard for public order. Regardless of the venue this is something that has become all too common throughout our fruited plain.

The video shows masked agitators behaving like they have been granted immunity wading into disorder and pelting police with the confidence of people who expect nothing will happen to them. They melt into the crowd because they know the odds: you won’t be identified, you won’t be arrested, nor will you see a courtroom and in some cities the prosecutor is more likely to haul in the cop than the criminal.

That is why the hoodie became the street disguise of choice, and the COVID-era mask never went away. Both offer maximum anonymity in places where accountability is optional and there is little to no downside. It is a no cost, high reward tactic: you blend into the crowd, you keep plausible deniability, and you avoid signaling criminal intent, while making individual identification difficult to the point of impossible.

When people believe there are no consequences, behavior changes

When people believe there are no consequences, behavior changes. A political and prosecutorial culture that minimizes certain offenses sends a clear message and human nature combined with street cred responds accordingly. Instead of being just another gathering, crowds become a shield. In large groups, individuals feel invisible, assuming police won’t scrutinize hours of video to identify suspects. Officers are often outnumbered and constrained by policy and do-nothing prosecutors make little if any arrests, especially those tied to protests that are ideologically charged.

Officers are expected to maintain order, yet the environment often signals that crowds can act with impunity. When a hostile group realizes it can overwhelm police, even something like a snowball becomes a weapon of defiance.

That thin blue line holds because most people know not to put their hands on cops or interfere with them.

Assaulting police officers is not a joke, or a political stunt--it is a crime.

The mass flight of the police ranks combined with the difficulty of recruiting capable officers demoralizes a seasoned department that pushes them out the door and lowers the bar for whomever dares to enter.

What is one to do?

If you are a lifelong Brooklynite, you don’t fade into the wallpaper--you contact the mayor’s office directly. Fittingly, my email correspondent’s grandfather and uncle both retired from the NYPD serving the city of our birth with distinction and dedication that this present age barely seems to recall.

“Since when does the mayor get to decide what isn’t a crime? I don’t know what video you were viewing but these police officers were not engaged in a snowball fight. They were being assaulted and attempting to downplay the crime is not part of your job. We have a judicial system that includes investigation/arrest/booking/arraignment/trial, etc. Perhaps you need a refresher course in civics. Do your job. Get the street cleaned and garbage collected – stay out of police business, Mr. Mayor.”

I expected nothing less, after all, she’s a Maresca.

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