New York mayor Bill de Blasio issued an order on October 20 mandating a vaccine for all 160,500 municipal workers by November 1.  That was a lot of jabs with only twelve days' notice.

The mayor gave all city workers two incentives:

1. Those who comply get a $500 bonus and get to keep their jobs.
2. Those who defy get fired immediately.

Wow!  Serious medicine for those who oppose: firing thousands of firefighters and police officers who committed that "crime."  Immediate dismissal.

But did the punishment fit the "crime"?  Was it genuinely worth understaffing the city streets, rolling out a welcome mat for street gangs to exploit the vacuum left by a mass exodus of law enforcement?

If street marauders set historic buildings aflame and firefighters are called, none might arrive.  Why?  Because hizzoner determined that firefighters were accomplices with police in committing the "crime of the century," refusing the jab.  Hizzoner's attitude seemed to be, let the buildings burn.  Hurl those bricks through plate glass windows of Macy's or Bloomingdales.  It's for the greater good.  Fire those wretched intransigent firefighters and their police pals.  Stop them in their tracks.  Let their families suffer.  Cut them off without pay for their crime against humanity.  Let their children beg for bread in the streets — that aren't properly policed.  

And what is it about this vile crime of the century that it warrants being fired without pay?  Refusal to take a vaccine for a virus that has a mortality rate of one in a thousand cases.

The largest police union in New York, the Police Benevolent Association, representing 24,000 New York City police officers, intervened in an attempt to stop de Blasio's rash actions, but to no avail.

So now, when there's an extra burglary or a few added rapes or murders to the monthly stats, will there be an action taken against those so willing to risk gutting the municipal workers who protect us and run our city?  No action.  Nada.  Because unaccountable politicians virtually never pay the price for the carnage they inflict on others.  Damage to human beings and property, it's all par for the course for politicians who see to keep getting re-elected.  And if they lose, a newer worse version takes their place.  That's precisely wrong with our current political system.  Politicians and bureaucrats are usually immune from their actions.  And what happens when there are no consequences for bad behavior?  It's repeated.  Again and again and again.

The police association (PBA) was spot on in its statement that "[t]he city has provided no explanation, much less a rational one, for the need to violate the autonomy and privacy of NYPD police officers in such a severe manner, on the threat of termination."

But then again, why should the city fathers have to explain themselves?  They are large and in charge and do whatever they want.

The Associated Press report published this callous comment by Mayor de Blasio: "Every effort to stop the city's vaccine mandates has failed in court, and we believe this suit by the PBA will meet the same fate."

The same fate?  What about the fate of citizens on the street if thousands of police were forcibly removed from their jobs?  Even ones who had caught COVID-19 in the past and have natural immunity?  This makes no sense.  But what can we expect from nonsensical politicians?

What was not widely reported is the fact that it wasn't only police and fire personnel who had to comply or go bye-bye.  It was all municipal employees — even morgue managers who might be working overtime to keep up with the carnage left by an understaffed police force.  Ah, but that was an acceptable risk to take a stand against those "bad cops" who choose not to take a vaccine that has not fully been proven to be safe or effective.

If anyone chooses to take the vaccine after counsel with their doctor, let him take it.  If they decide not to take it, fine also.  But we mustn't throw out babies or grown-ups with the bathwater — especially not police, firefighters, or other dedicated municipal workers who want to do their jobs.

Laws have consequences.  In Oregon, politicians passed a law that handcuffed police.  The result?  A riot.  And the only thing police were allowed to do to attempt to stop it was to use loudspeakers, asking the rioters to stop.  They didn't.  Why should they?  News was out that "progressive politicians" took the teeth out of policing.  On a national note, when asked what to do with the New York municipal workers declining the vaccine, Joe Biden snapped, "Fire them all."

In San Francisco, laws were passed downgrading criminal theft to a misdemeanor.  Now Bay Area city fathers are scratching their heads and picking navel lint, wondering why crime has escalated since the punishment, if any, is akin to a slap on the wrist.

It's high time to get accountability in government where politicians and their bureaucratic workforce are not allowed to step on the citizens they were hired to serve and protect.

Michael A Letts is the CEO and Founder of  In-VestUSA, a national grassroots non-profit organization helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bulletproof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs.

Image: Public Advocate Bill de Blasio via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

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