John Kennedy – Historical Lense

Congratulation to all the men and women in law enforcement! Despite the problems with what really is an infinitesimal fraction of police who are bad actors, most of them go to work every day hoping to help their community. They do much more than catching major criminals. Over the years we’ve lived in a number of states from Pennsylvania to Washington State, and have seen police prevent suicides, help people get their cars off bridges, return stolen property–from purses to dentures–everything imaginable. A high-speed chase across three counties to return a baby to its parents. Getting into a sewer to retrieve a much- loved pet. That’s what they do every day.

Police, often called constables, have been part of the fabric of the US since before the American Revolution. Officers first used uniforms in 1828 in both Boston and Chicago, and gradually expanded to most communities. Marie Owen became the first woman to serve as a detective in 1891 (in Chicago.) Police first started using automobiles in 1914 (in Berkley, CA), and it wasn’t until September 1968 that two women became “beat cops” in Indianapolis.

President John Kennedy signed a proclamation in 1962 calling for Peace Officer’s Memorial Day every May 15, with the entire week being known as Police Week. In 1982 President Ronald Reagan attended the first National Peace Officer’s Memorial Service with a candlelight vigil. This year the vigil took place on May 13. At that time they list the officers that year who have fallen in the line of duty. This year, 394 were killed, including 182 who were killed because of Covid-19.

In addition to honoring the fallen, we should also thank those how have quietly helped the community in so many ways which are rarely recognized. So here’s just a snippet of some of the good news done by law enforcement this past year–and it really is a snippet. Thousands of those men and women have done fantastic work. I’d love to include their names and pictures, but in this current volatile times, I’m sure you’ll understand why I’ve left them off.

–Three officers carried on a coordinated search for a missing woman. It turned out that she had had a diabetic emergency and had driven her car off the road, through dense brush. The car flipped over and caught fire. The men had to break into the car that was engulfed in flame and pull her out. She was hospitalized and made a full recovery. The police also needed treatment for their burns.

–An autistic child wandered away from his family, who frantically called 911. Police combed the area. One officer had a hunch and went to a pier where he found the child on sailboat at a dock. He scaled the fence and got to the little one before he ended up in the water.

–A police officer saw a man in a wheelchair frantically trying to cross a train track. She got out of her car and tried to help him, but the wheelchair was stuck and a train was approaching. A small woman, she managed to pull the man out of the wheelchair and drag him to safety just as the train flew by, crushing the wheelchair.

An officer controls traffic under 1 World Trade Center on October 7, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

–An officer went in after a child who had fallen through the ice in a frozen pond. The child survived.

–Two weeks ago, a police officer in Time Square picked up a four-year-old who had been shot, ran to an ambulance that was about half a block away, and took her to the hospital which the child went into surgery. The officer then made sure to find the Mom–herself in the hospital–to tell her that the child was going to be fine. Both mother and child are now home.

–This week a 93-year-old lady heard a loud bang on her doorstep. She found a package for someone at a different address. No return address. No postage. At her age she wasn’t going to take a hike to deliver it. She was uneasy because she remembered when packages like that included a bomb. She called the non-emergency number of the police and asked what she should do. In ten minutes two police officers arrived, took the package and told her that she was quite right to call. Before they found the phone number of the new owner, they would have their K-9 officer make sure it was safe.

As I said, that was just a tiny fraction of what police do every day. Things which most of us never hear about until we’re personally involved. When you need them, they will come. We should say “Thank You” more than we do.

In the past two week Congress has been trying to develop a bill for sensible police reform. In fact, Senator Tim Scott has been working on that for several years and came up with a package of reforms. Senator Schumer refused to even discuss it. In the House, Congressman Pelosi pushed a bill through without any discussion at all. So there we are. No bill at all.🤨 Now, granted, a few people—by-partisan people—agreed with about 70 percent of both bills. But the caucuses would not even try to work out a compromise. There would be no discussion. The phrase “my way of the highway” comes to mind. So, I ask—WHERE ARE THE GROWN-UPS?

We used to have grown-up. People who would work together. Remember Tip O’Neil (D) and Ronald Reagan (R)? Mike Mansfield (D) and Everett Dirksen (R)? Mansfield and Dirksen got the 1964 Civil Rights Act passed. One of the most important bills of the 20th century. Don’t remember? Let me remind you.

President John Kennedy wanted to pass a Civil Rights bill, and by June 1963 he had proposed serious legislation, but before it could pass, he was assassinated. President Johnson took up the fight to get the bill passed. The Southern Democrat members of the House of Representatives had all kinds of arguments against the bill. They opposed it every inch of the way. It took bi-partisan work to pass the bill 290-130.

When it got to the Senate, Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D) moved the bill from the Judiciary Committee where it would have been buried, and put it in with bills pending in the Senate. Southern Democrats and members from the border states started to filibuster the bill. The only way to place a time limit on a filibuster is by a cloture vote. But in those days, you needed a 2/3 majority, or 67 votes. Mansfield could only get 42 votes because of the Southern Democrats. Most of the country knew that the bill was long overdue. But to get cloture, Mansfield needed to get the Republicans, with their 33 votes, on board. And to add to that, this was an election year!! Would Dirksen, the Minority Leader, help? Mansfield went to him, and, after agreeing to a few changes, they introduced a revised version. Dirksen understood that it was more important to pass the bill than to gain some political points.The filibuster continued.

At 7:38 pm on June 9, West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd (once a member of the KKK) began speaking. He yielded the floor at 10:00 am the next morning. At that point, members of the entire chamber walked in. The gallery was full to overflowing, and reporters and people who couldn’t get in to the gallery waited outside. After short but powerful comments from Mansfield and Dirksen, the secretary called the roll. Cloture passed 71-29. (44 Democrats and 27 Republicans) At that point, every Senator was allowed one hour to speak. On June 19, 1964, the Senate voted, passing the Civil Rights Act 73-27.

Now for my rant…

Do you thing that would happen today❓ Where are the Dirksen’s and Mansfield’s? Yes, there are a few people who are truly willing to work together. However, I have a very uncomfortable feeling that more people in Congress today are interested in getting reelected, getting plum committee assignments, and/or becoming media darlings, than to do what’s right for the vast majority of the country and pass an honest, thoughtful bill. We have a Congress full of petulant children. WHERE ARE THE GROWNUPS? (And now I’m going to write to my Congressman and two Senators and tell them the same thing.)😖

Historical Lense

Tag: John Kennedy

It’s National Police Week!

Where are the grown-ups?👶