LawOfficer.com: Police Taking the Blame for Political Cowardice

There is a particular kind of institutional betrayal that doesn’t make the after-action report.

David Berez is a retired 20-year police veteran with the East Windsor (NJ) Police Department, and the author of the book, “A Resilient Life: A Cop’s Journey in Pursuit of Purpose.” He is a member of the Law Enforcement Advisory Council for Citizens Behind the Badge.

There is a particular kind of institutional betrayal that doesn’t make the after-action report. It doesn’t appear in the use-of-force review or the city council minutes. But it registers — deeply and durably — in the minds and bodies of the officers left holding the consequences of decisions they didn’t make.

What has unfolded recently in Newark, New Jersey is a case study in that betrayal.

For weeks, nightly civil unrest outside a federal immigration detention facility pushed federal agents beyond their capacity to maintain order. State and local law enforcement were called in by elected leadership — specifically tasked with controlling crowds, enforcing a curfew, and restoring a safe environment. The officers and troopers deployed were among the region’s most rigorously trained in crowd and riot control. They arrived not looking for confrontation, but well prepared for it.

What they found was organized aggression, with a supply chain of protesters and supplies. Protesters escalated physical violence every night when the sun went down, directing threats of death and serious bodily harm at officers and their families.

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