The Forum has been under attack this week by supporters of HBCOP, whom our publisher wrote about last week as having misinformed the public on details of a crime being committed at KFC.
As background, the Howard Beach Civilian Observation Patrol last week posted on their Facebook page that there were intruders in KFC on Cross Bay Boulevard robbing the establishment while employees were tied up. The implication was that the employees were in physical danger and/or there was a hostage-type situation occurring as the post went up.
We had a problem with this post, and we spoke up about it. We think it’s the responsibility of an organization founded ostensibly to protect a community to fact-check and double fact-check before unnecessarily frightening parents and community members who could, as we were concerned, be worried that their children or friends were among those tied up in the KFC. We thought that the HBCOP was established to strengthen our confidence, not to instill greater fear.
Since our publisher’s note was printed, The Forum has received a number of hateful emails and calls defending the HBCOP. Let’s be clear on one thing: we are human, and we have feelings, too. Some of the things that have been said to us in the past week, we believe are unwarranted. We questioned the methods of a self-appointed organization, and as a result in a variety of venues we were called a “bully,” and even, horrifically enough, named the possible cause for someone, in the future, to commit suicide.
We stand by our publisher.
One of the comments we received came from Paulie S., who told us we should seriously investigate the matter, rather than solely give our opinion. So we did.
In so doing, our newspaper discovered that HBCOP’s President has a criminal felony record as having “promoted prostitution.” He pled guilty to that and to enterprise corruption. These charges, which can easily be looked up and their implications revealed, are not our concoction; they in fact reveal the true history of a person that now leads a community organization meant to assist in upholding the law. Sometimes the truth hurts.
If someone who has committed crimes wants to reform themselves and work toward protecting his community, we are all for it. We’ve all done things we’re not proud of, but we do want to ask if, going forward, there shouldn’t be a greater scrutiny of the credentials of participants in these sorts of organizations. But it’s not as though that information wasn’t sought. We talked to the 106th precinct about HBCOP, who informed us that they had, in seeking credentials and other background information needed to be officially recognized as a civilian observation patrol “spoken to Joe [Thompson] on a number of occasions…and we haven’t heard back from him since.”
We love volunteers and the idea that we can all contribute to making our community, our borough, and our world a better place. And a lot of criminals deserve a second chance. But the fact is that community members look up to people that drive around in cars with logos under some kind of authority, boasting of certificates and with published press records in their favor. Whether or not the respect they get is warranted, the respect is there. And should we really be respecting convicted felons, to the point that we trust them to defend us against other criminals?
At a time when our cops need all the support they can get, we should be utilizing civilian patrols who have legs to stand on and legitimate experience, unscathed by criminal deviance, that backs up the honorable work they do. That’s what we have to say about that.
