BROOKLYN, NY – It’s open season on cops in New York City, and an incident this past Thursday shows that criminals no longer care about assaulting them, especially since in the state of New York, assaulting a police officer is not considered a serious enough crime to warrant cash bail.

In downtown Brooklyn, 40-year-old Steven Haynes apparently sucker punched the unsuspecting officer for no reason. The officer fell to the ground, at which point Haynes continued punching the officer in the face.

More disturbing is the reaction, or lack thereof, of the officer’s partner. The video, which was obtained from the partner’s body cam showed the whole incident, and shows that the partner, who was a female, did little to assist the officer who was assaulted.

While the suspect is on top of the officer, the partner calls for backup but other than a few weak strikes with an expandable baton, does nothing.

“Listen…listen, get off of him! Get off of him!” she says as she grabs the back of his jacket. “Alright sir get off. Mister…mister come on.”

Wow.

Thankfully, other officers arrive shortly afterward, and Haynes is taken into custody. He was charged with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration.

He was also given disorderly conduct violations for obstructing traffic, refusing to disperse and carrying an open alcoholic beverage, according to police.

True to New York “justice”, Haynes was let go without bail and was released under supervision at his arraignment on Friday. You’ve gotta hand it to New York…they make sure these bad guys pay for committing crimes, especially against police officers.

As is clear from the video, the officer’s partner did little, if anything to assist her partner while he was getting beat up and was clearly at a disadvantage with Haynes being on top of him. And this did not go unnoticed by other officers who responded to the call or saw the video.

One officer, who did not wish to be named, said:

“This is one of the worst things I have seen in a while. She had every right to do something if her partner was in danger, but she did next to nothing. There has to be an investigation at least,” the cop said.

Another unidentified officer asked:

“How did she even become a cop? She needs to be taken off the streets immediately. The goal every day is to make sure that you and your partner return home safe,” the officer said. “She clearly failed to do that.”

The Sergeant Benevolent Association of the NYPD pulled no punches in a Twitter post expressing their outrage at the incident.

“Another ATTACK on NYPD Cops! Was this officer working alone? Who was saying ‘Mr. Get off him?’ All street cops BE CAREFUL, the city is falling, and YOU are the first target.”

Another ATTACK on NYPD Cops!Was this officer working alone? Who was saying “Mr. Get off of him”? All street cops BE CAREFUL, the city is falling and YOU are the first target. pic.twitter.com/PfISCPFn9l — SBA (@SBANYPD) December 28, 2019

The president of the NYPD Police Benevolent Association took it out on city politicians in a statement to the New York Post.

“When will our elected leaders admit that the streets are out of control? The peps know they can sucker punch a cop and escape with no consequences,” he said. “And cops know that City Hall will not back them up. The situation is getting more dangerous by the day.”

A spokesman for the NYPD said the matter was “under internal review.”

New York cops have been under assault for quite a while now. In October, a NYPD cop was placed in a medically induced coma after being assaulted while attempting to make an arrest. The officer was struck in the head with a metal chair by Kwesi Ashun, who was put down by responding NYPD officers.

Also, in October, two officers were assaulted from behind as they tried to arrest someone in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. They were trying to arrest someone for drinking in public and as they did so, the suspect took a swing at them. While they were trying to handcuff the suspect, an uninvolved person jumped in from behind and assaulted both officers.

Back in July, officers were doused with water and had buckets thrown at them while trying to make an arrest in Harlem. In Brooklyn around the same time, an Instagram video showed two officers walking away from a group of heathens, who followed them and poured water over their heads. The officers just walked away and did nothing.

The incidents involving the water showed how apathetic officers in New York are. They get no support from city leaders like de Blasio, state legislators and left-wing loon Gov. Andrew Cuomo have basically emasculated them with feel-good, social engineering bail regulations that put criminals on the street before officers leave for the day, and they deal with a court system that doesn’t hold criminals accountable for their actions.

Add to that presidential candidates who waste no opportunity to bash police whenever given an opening, and it’s not surprising that criminals have become so brazen in their interactions with police officers. It will get a lot worse before it gets better.

It’s obvious that there’s an absence of leadership in the city NYPD, and that’s not helping.

Look at what happened last month.

After being named the NYPD’s next police commissioner, Dermot Shea’s presence was “demanded” for a sit-down with activist Al Sharpton. So how did he respond?

He immediately caved.

Incoming New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea was appointed as the department’s top cop earlier this month. Needless to say, it stirred some controversy amid the modern-day caricatures of social justice, most notably over the newly appointed official’s race.

Reverend Sharpton’s anti-police National Action Network headquarters was where the duo linked up. In a sit-down lasting roughly an hour, Sharpton had regaled the soon to be commissioner with his thoughts on the city’s police force and general gripes associated with policing.

In attendance were also several attorneys and some clergy members as well. Shea had described the interaction as a “Great opportunity, great discussion here today,” when speaking with reporters.

Shea went on to dive deeper into the context of the conversation with Sharpton, stating:

“I think a very productive discussion, areas of concern, and really, a first step in having a collaborative relationship moving forward, making sure that the police department is the police department for all.”

According to a press release by Sharpton’s National Action Network, the future commissioner said that the meeting with Sharpton was the “first step” in establishing a “collaborative relationship.”

This sentiment was also echoed by Shea himself while talking to reporters.

“It’s very fitting that I’m here, I think, because I am the police commissioner to-be, of not the police department but of all New York, of 8.5 million New Yorkers,” Shea said.

The National Action Network said that Sharpton “demanded an immediate meeting with Shea” following the announcement of his appointment as the police commissioner.

Considering Sharpton’s ability to stir up a community with little more than just a few words and an outraged tone, Shea was certainly not in a position to say “no” and potentially ruffle feathers before even taking office.

Sharpton stated that he intends to keep giving his input to the upcoming commissioner on a regular basis.

When recounting the discussion that the pair had, Sharpton stated:

“We agreed on some issues. We disagreed on others. And we said we are going to disagree, but we are going to dialogue. We are not going to tell you what you want to hear, we are going to tell you what you need to hear.”

Despite his sit-down with the incoming police commissioner, Sharpton said he still plans to speak with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to find out why he didn’t appoint First Deputy Commissioner Ben Tucker as the agency’s next top cop.

Sharpton wasn’t the only one critical of the appointment, as many believed that Tucker was passed over simply because he is black.

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When Sharpton heard the news of Tucker being passed up for promotion the third time in his career, he was critical to say the least, but also acknowledged that Shea has been put in an difficult position as a result,

“First and foremost, we expressed to the soon-to-be commissioner that we were very concerned and surprised that Ben Tucker had been overlooked to be commissioner. Because of him [Shea] being chosen at a time when we felt Mr. Tucker had been overlooked for the second or third time, he comes with a sort of awkwardness that he inherits.”

New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman said she believes Commissioner Shea understands that the black community does not trust law enforcement.

“This is a symbolic statement by the new commissioner of concern about policing about the black community and that’s an important statement,” Lieberman said. “We know he is both inheriting low crime rates but low community trust, and I appreciate that he recognizes that as a problem.”

It’s interesting to see just how much weight this activist has, in that when he demands a meeting, he gets one. Still, hopefully the new commissioner does well by the new role that he’s poised to take up on December 1 of this year.

Just a few days ago, we published details about how the Reverend allegedly received a million dollars from his charity.

Sharpton, who also has a “news” program on MSNBC called Politics Nation, has also managed to pad his income as president and CEO of NAN. According to tax filings obtained by the New York Post, Sharpton took in over $1 million dollars from the charity last year.

His salary was $324,000, with an additional “bonus” of $159,596, plus “other compensation” totaling over $563,000. The salary was a 32% increase over his salary in 2007.

According to NAN, the extra cash was to “make up” for thirteen years between 2004-2017 when he did not receive his full compensation.

At his weekly rally at the House of Justice in Harlem, Sharpton defended his compensation. The weekly rally is also a cash cow for NAN, where participants drop cash in a bucket at the entrance.

“Fifteen years, you are talking about since 2004 when I came back after running for president,” he said. “For anybody else it would be laughable.”

What is laughable is the fact that Sharpton has made in excess of six figures every year since 2008, the last time he went without a salary. What is also laughable is that Sharpton owes years of back taxes, both to New York and to the IRS, both personally and for three companies that he owns. The state tax debt stands at over $698,000. He finally paid the state of New York back taxes of $95,031.21 this past June.

Last year, Sharpton sold the rights to his “life story” to his own charity for $531,000. Nice income if you can get it.

According to NAN, the deal was approved by an unnamed “executive committee” that approved the deal. However, some people have questioned the sale.

Linda Sugin, who is a law professor at Fordham University and associate dean said in part:

“…it’s really difficult because of his role in the organization and just because of his overall influence.”

NAN stated that the purchase, by means of selling rights to Sharpton’s story, would provide revenue back to the organization. However, neither Sharpton or the charity, could identify any producers who were lining up to produce such a program.

According to Sharpton, the sale of the rights came from two NAN board members, but he declined to identify who they were. According to the Reverend Al, they were looking to create streams of income for the charity for when Sharpton steps down, supposedly next year.

Sharpton also claims that there are movies in the works (no doubt will be Hollywood “blockbusters), with a contract for a third. Sharpton claims that one of the movies is already in production. However Sharpton refused to provide details of any of the projects.

With all of that said, NAN could run into trouble with the IRS. IRS rules prevent giving excess benefits to a non-profits officials, which can then jeopardize the organization’s tax-exempt status with the IRS.

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