"Diallo Show's Over So Go On Home"

Getting arrested in front of Police Headquarters has become the trendiest game in town. All across the city, suits are dusted off, shoes shined and legions go forth singing (to the tune of, Get Me To The Church On Time):

I'm gettin' arrested in the morning
Ding dong!
The bells are gonna chime
Pull out the stoppers,
Let's meet the coppers
But get me to the jail on time

All of this might be fun (even the handcuffs are of flexible plastic), but for the fact that the process represents the exploitation of a tragic event. Press releases and arrests by appointment all work toward an end that would, if achieved, subvert the process of law itself.

When we asked one of those who was bragging that he was showing up to be arrested what he was seeking to accomplish, his reply was that he wanted the police officers involved in Amadou Diallo's death arrested. When it was pointed out that there was a Grand jury that would determine whether a crime had been committed and if so, who should be punished, the reply was, with perfect geometric logic, "So what! The Police Commissioner went to the Academy Awards on his day off." We observed that during this same weekend the President of the United States, on the verge of sending American forces to the Balkans, was at Camp David.

And short of their going to a Klu Klux Klan rally, is it anybody's business where they spend their day off?

We also pointed out that even the former Mayor Koch, who seems to treat every accomplishment of the present administration like a knife in his heart, had the good taste to have a low-blood pressure attack that prevented him from getting arrested with that other champion of civil rights, former Mayor Dinkins, of Korean Boycott and Crown Heights fame.

The really disturbing aspect of all this early spring madness is the cruel exploitation of a terrible event by racial vultures. We suspect that if this young man's parents were here, and knew what was occurring, they would certainly object. There are also those others, who believe in the rule of law, and who silently pursue their lives in a decent and lawful way, who have been most victimized by crime, and have most benefited from an ascent from the criminal infestations of their neighborhoods who, if allowed their voice, would also object.

When we were kids, and a bunch of people gathered around an accident, there was usually a cop who broke up the crowd, and said, not unkindly, "Come on folks, break it up. Show's over. Go on home." Boy, could we use that cop now.

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