Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake today cast her war of words with police union president Gene S. Ryan as a reflection of “the politics of the FOP.”

Asked to explain what she meant by this statement at her weekly media availability, the mayor said, “The leadership knows that they have members that are frustrated and every time they take a shot at us, they think they are taking some of the steam out, some of the air out of balloon.”

“I get it,” she continued, “If they feel they need to beat up on me to get their officers back to work, they can do it all day long if it gets people out working.”

Asked if FOP leadership shared her interpretation of their motivations (yesterday Ryan accused the mayor and Police Commissioner Anthony Batts of intentionally stalling the release of police video tapes and text messages during the April 27 riot), Rawlings-Blake replied:

“It’s not my interpretation. It’s historical. You can look at union relationships throughout time.”

Getting the Police to Police

The mayor said she has been “very clear” with Ryan and Lodge 3 of the Fraternal of Police that there can be no slowdown by members on the job, despite the large drop in arrests – and sharp increase in homicides– in the last six weeks.

“As long as they plan to cash their paycheck, our expectation, my expectation, is that they work.”

Asked why her administration has been “so timid” in expressing publicly the necessity of police to do their job, Rawlings-Blake said she wanted to be “careful,” saying:

“I don’t want to paint all the officers with a broad brush that’s inaccurate. When I’m out on the streets and out talking to the officers, we’re walking and doing community patrol, I encounter officers every day that are in the crime fight. They want to do their job. They care about the community. They care about their position as police officers.”

Officers on National TV

She agreed, however, that “specific officers” are acting in ways that “are inconsistent with their oath” or have gone on Fox News and CNN with their faces blacked out and saying that the rank-and-file is afraid to do their jobs.

Asked who needs to send the message that Baltimore needs “pro-active policing again,” the mayor replied:

“The message has to come from all of us, and we’ve sending that message. I have talked to the FOP. The commissioner has talked to the rank-and-file officers. The Department of Justice has come in and spoken to the officers.

“The commissioner has pulled some of the officers out of Western [District] to have a retreat where they are hearing from veteran officers, where they are hearing from community leaders. I spoke to community members participating, and they said they were able to have a real talk with the officers about the fact that we need them in partnership, and we need them doing their jobs. So these conversations are definitely being had.”