Auxiliary police officers recently shot in New York.

[dnar]

According to the New York Daily News, there are about 4,600 Auxiliary police officers who are unpaid civilian volunteers who aim to deter crime by acting as the "eyes and ears" of the NYPD and providing a uniformed presence. They patrol on foot and in marked cars and wear virtually the same UNIFORM as regular police officers. Auxiliary cops are equipped with radios, flashlights, handcuffs and nightsticks - but are NOT ALLOWED TO CARRY GUNS. These guys risk their lives to do what they do, yet are not allowed to carry a gun to protect themselves. If those two auxiliary police officers (Nicholas Pekearo and Eugene Marshalik) were armed with guns, they probably would still be alive today. Thanks.

[ChamberedRound]

Just heard about this. Here's the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/ny...063&ei=5087%0A

This just dumbfounds me. How can they expect these volunteers to wear a uniform which looks almost IDENTICAL to a police uniform, and not allow them to be armed? Didn't the yahoos in charge realize that if these volunteers LOOK like cops, people might THINK they're cops, including criminals?

Amazing.

Thanks for the post rand; I see it's your first. Welcome to the forum!

[dnar]

Thanks ChamberedRound,

Another thought crossed my mind, maybe the gunman (David Garvin) knew that the auxiliary police officers didn't carry guns which made it a whole lot easier to turn on them knowing that they were not armed.

[KeithPA]

I heard that they were pursuing the shooter. Damn stupid, but damn brave.

They have neither firearms nor bodyarmor.

Why these officers were walking the beat is beyond me. NYPD has 4,000 less police officers than it did before 9/11 and we see what happens. Terrorism funds increasing causes less officers on the street so we rely on unarmed officers to protect the streets. Plain stupid.

I see Auxiliary officers around here during the summer on the pennisula. The wave their arms and direct traffic. Apparantly in some states if the have LTCFs they are allowed to carry. Of course all news commentators think that would be a horrible idea in NYC (it's not that their anti gun or anything )

[vetter3006]

This just removed all doubts about how messed up New York really is.
It's ashame that dedicated and couragous men had to pay for screwed up laws of New York.

[Whiskey Delta]

This incident is what happens when people 'play' at things.

You would not catch me pretending to be a cop without all the tools.

It is not kind to speak ill of the dead, but let's face facts:

These guys got off on the 'idea' of being cops to the point that they sacrificed their safety to do so, but rather than go the 'apply and join up' and make a commitment to being a 'real' cop, they did the next best thing..pretend cop.

The were, in fact, glorified 'town watch' and they overstepped their bounds by chasing an armed person without the means to subdue him or protect themselves.

Admirable? No more than a guy who electrocutes himself pretending to be an electrician.

Police work is tough, mentally demanding and dangerous. It requires training and tools. You can't do it half assed, and I am sorry. That is precisely what they were doing.

Rather than castigate the city for allowing people to play 'dress up', ask yourself how many cops the city would have to HIRE if they didn't have 4 thousand people willing to VOLUNTEER? Yep, these guys paid the ultimate price for their infatuation. How many 'real' cops could the city avoid paying for because a BUNCH of people will do it for free?

There are cop groupies of both sexes. Some just want to screw them, others aspire to the prestige of being in the NYPD without the commitment. The city benefits by letting people play dress up, drive old patrol cars and giving them bragging rights of being able to say "I am in the NYPD". Can you blame the city for trying to capitalize on such prestige? Not let them carry? Hell, that is probably the fault of the Police Union who wants to keep the "real" cops employed.

Used to crack me up when guys would bitch about how lousy Helicopter medics got paid. I told them "Be glad the universities don't know how many idiots would do it for free, just so they could fly around and brag about it later.."


Sorry for the loss of these guys. I don't think they really knew what they were up against. I think they saw danger as an abstract, and it got them killed.

[dnar]

Whiskey Delta, you definitely do have a point!

[Nate]

This just removed all doubts about how messed up New York really is.
It's ashame that dedicated and couragous men had to pay for screwed up laws of New York.

You hit that nail right on the head!

[FUNDAMENTALS]

There is another matter to consider with this unfortunate incident, was is not
this past friday that 3 out of 5 nyc police officers (armed) were indicted by a
grand jury for the killing of an unarmed person. I can remember when nypd officers claimed that they were out gunned by the bad guys and went to semi-
autos. I wonder if they go to the range more than once a year. The community
service officers that lost there lives is tragic. I wonder what changes both
incidents will bring to that department, besides civil law suits, etc.

[dnar]

The community service officers that lost there lives is tragic. I wonder what changes both
incidents will bring to that department, besides civil law suits, etc.

Only time will tell what kind of changes will take place in that department and in New York in general. We also need to pray for all involved the victims, families, police officers, and especially for Mayor Bloomberg.