Patrick Lynch, Police Union Chief Who Fought de Blasio, Wins a 5th Term - Police News Review

June 07, 2015

From Police News Review

» Crime and Confusion in a Safer New York City
06/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Police
The worriers should get a grip, and the mayor and his police commissioner should get on the same page about police staffing and crime-fighting.

Patrick Lynch, Police Union Chief Who Fought de Blasio, Wins a 5th Term
Sunday June 7th, 2015 at 8:02 PM

Beating back his first challenge in a decade, Patrick J. Lynch, the irascible police union boss, was re-elected on Friday as the president of the New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

Mr. Lynch, 51, received 70 percent of the vote and defeated two opponents, Brian Fusco and Ronald Wilson, to win a fifth four-year term.

His re-election came six months after he fought a nasty public war with Mayor Bill de Blasio during which he attacked the mayor for showing sympathy to protesters who marched after the death of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man who was put in a chokehold by the police. Mr. Lynch later declared that Mr. de Blasio had “blood on the hands” in the murders of two Brooklyn police officers.

Announcing his victory, Mr. Lynch said in a statement, “We are extremely gratified that our members have recognized the hard work and successes that Team Lynch has achieved on their behalf.” He said he would continue to work in the members’ best interests.

Mr. Fusco, a high-ranking association official and a former ally of Mr. Lynch, called it a hard-fought race. “The members of the P.B.A. were able to hear our positions on the critical issues facing police officers,” he said. “The members have spoken, and we respect their decision.”

In a statement, Mr. Wilson thanked his supporters. “Now it’s time for the union to all band together and stand behind Paddy,” he said.

Throughout the campaign, Mr. Lynch, who has led the union since 1999, faced criticism from his challengers over his failure to secure a contract for the 23,000 members of his union who have been working without one since 2010. He was also assailed for not stopping Gov. David A. Paterson from slashing pension benefits for newly hired officers in 2009.

A wily politician given to strategic bursts of outrage, Mr. Lynch alienated some of his members, and much of the public, this winter when he called on the police to sign petitions to keep Mr. de Blasio from attending their funerals if they were killed on the job, and he quietly stood by as his officers engaged in a work slowdown on summonses and quality-of-life arrests.

In January, some of Mr. Fusco’s supporters rose in mutiny against him during an association meeting at a catering hall in Queens, demanding that he drop his fight with the mayor and concentrate instead on the business of the union.

Though an opinion poll around that time showed that nearly 80 percent of New York voters considered his attacks on Mr. de Blasio “too extreme,” Mr. Lynch focused his campaign on his constituency of rank-and-file officers. He visited roll calls at precinct station houses around the city to promote his successes, including his claim of having raised police salaries by more than 50 percent during his tenure.

Mr. Lynch was unapologetic for having sparred with the mayor, saying that he was merely giving voice to his members’ beliefs and that his angry statements eventually caused Mr. de Blasio to show more respect for the police.

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Oakland police fatally shoot suspect near Lake Merritt - SFGate
Sunday June 7th, 2015 at 8:01 PM

Photo: Henry K. Lee

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