When Can a Police Officer Disobey an Order?

Two days ago, I wrote in this area on Sunday’s crisis in Los Angeles, at which pro- Arab ( read pro- Hamas, pro- murder, pro- hostage- taking, pro- rape ) demonstrators shut down access to the Adas Torah Synagogue in the intensely Jewish Pico- Robertson neighborhood. When they did listen, LAPD officers were delayed to and ineffective, which led to rumors on social media that they had been ordered to walk down in response to pro-Palestinian protests.

I will continue to believe that the LAPD was caught prepared and unable to stop the violence at the church on Sunday, despite the fact that one should always be hesitant to attribute hate anything that can be explained by stupidity or ignorance.

I did n’t witness the incident, nor have I spoken with anyone present, so what follows is pure speculation, albeit based on more than 40 years in law enforcement, more than 30 of it with the LAPD. The LAPD’s primary point to remember is that Saturday are the least busy times of the week and so the least operated days of the week. Additionally, officials who are on duty on Saturday are frequently the least experienced, which is because most of them choose to be off on weekends and soldiers with higher levels of rank are given preference when it comes to choosing days away. &nbsp,

Seeing video clips from scenes like this one, where the majority of the officers ‘ serial numbers are displayed on the backs of their hats, supports my speculative theory. The officer is younger the higher the number, and the majority of the officers in this tape are generally natural.

In addition, the West Los Angeles Division has about 230, 000 residents spread over 64 square yards, but there were probably only 16 soldiers and one or two sergeants on Sunday when patrolling the area. A view commander back at the station, such as a lieutenant or top commander, would have overseen this crew. Few if any of these soldiers may have received extensive education in crowd-control methods. Both officers assigned to the place, the police commanding officer and the region commanding officer, would have been away ( certainly that their existence would have helped ).

In brief, the available workers at West L. A. Division were unable to argue with the situation at hand, necessitating the gathering of assets from the other groups in the LAPD’s West Bureau, Wilshire, Hollywood, Olympic, and Pacific, all of which would have had manpower and knowledge issues related to those seen at West L. A. The officers assigned to the Metropolitan Division made up the district’s corps of soldiers best trained and equipped for group power, and they were either off-duty or assigned elsewhere in the area.

Keep in mind that pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the U.S. welcome violent confrontations with the police in order to produce provocative video clips that they can distribute on social media and air on sympathetic media outlets like the Hamas terrorists in Gaza whom they so admire. When dealing with such a mob, a case can be brought against the police using restraint only if the confrontation involves the mob and the police. However desirable it may be in some circumstances, restraint cannot come at the price of innocent blood. When innocent parties are being attacked, as occurred at the synagogue on Sunday, the time for restraint is over.

The incident commander has the final say in what police actions to take in such a situation, who must balance the needs of law enforcement with the resources available to accomplish them. In this case, the objectives should have been clear enough, even to an inexperienced supervisor: protect lives and property and ensure the free exercise of rights guaranteed by the Constitution. &nbsp,

Yes, those who choose to enter a synagogue are allowed to protest there, but they must not impose restrictions on their right to do so. Those who prevented people from moving toward the synagogue should have been detained. I find it perplexing that, if Noah Pollack’s account is accurate ( and I have no reason to doubt it ), the police did n’t issue an order like that and carried out the lawful action as needed was necessary.

Is it impossible for the police at the synagogue on Sunday to stand still despite my doubts that they were given orders to do so? Given how politicized the police profession has become, especially in cities, like Los Angeles, governed by leftists, the answer, sadly, is no. If L. A. If any of the following are notable figures: Mayor Karen Bass, Brandon Johnson in Chicago, or Eric Adams in New York, to name just three: if any of them knew there was a benefit in preventing the police from arresting a group of their favorite political allies, would they be reluctant to tell their police chiefs? And would those chiefs have the guts to uphold the law in opposition to the mayor’s wishes?

Sadly, it bears repeating that the conflict in Gaza is still going on and that hostages, including Americans, are still being held there since October 7 were taken there. Many of the atrocities committed on October 7 are still at large and engaged in combat, including Yahya Sinwar, the man who organized the attack. Pro-Palestine demonstrations will continue in this nation until the end of the Gaza war, and probably even longer. &nbsp,

Add the friction of the upcoming presidential election to this already contented environment, and you have the ingredients for a lot of tumult in the months to come. If politicians order their police officers to ignore lawbreaking, as was done for example in 2020 in Minneapolis, where the mayor ordered the police to abandon a police station to the incendiary whims of rioters, chaos inevitably follows.

A police officer has an obligation to disobey an order that is unlawful, immoral, or unethical, and any order that subjects innocent parties to peril would be all three. When the time comes for them to make their choice, who will stand tall?

Source credit