Timely Reality Check as Cops and Firemen Pound Each Other at a Charity Hockey Game

Fights at hockey games are a
long tradition—they were a big part of the draw when my buddies and
I bought Rangers tickets back in the day. Fans now share
their favorite fight videos online. Rivalry between police and
fire departments also has a long history, with the “battle
of the badges” considered by professional worriers to be a
major barrier to coordinating emergency services. So when New
York’s “bravest” and “finest” took what Governing magazine
calls a “uniquely
tense relationship” onto the ice for a charity hockey game, the
result was a fight video for the ages—and a glimpse inside the
human flaws of government employees Americans are told time and
again they owe respect.

The score was tied 3-3 when the
fight broke out (the cops went on to win 8-5, for what it’s
worth). As Governing‘s John Buntin put it in that 2005
battle of the badges piece, “cooperation was not as effective as it
could have been.”

But cooperation even between
police departments has sometimes been just as ineffective. When the
city-controlled Municipal Police and the state-led Metropolitan
Police duked it out over who would be official keepers of the peace
in 1857 New York City, 53 men were injured in the resulting
Great
Police Riot. That battle of the badges ended only with the
intervention of the state militia.

Unfortunately, no video of the event is available.

Rivalry and elbow-throwing aren’t a special feature of
government agencies, but they do take a more serious turn when
employees of the state with special authority and powerful
resources are involved. That’s especially true when those employees
are of the sort that the public is constantly
hectored to
show respect and even deference—a category that seems to cover
all government workers these days.

Police officers and firemen are human beings. They deserve
respect when they earn it; they deserve skepticism and disdain when
they don’t. Video of them turning a charity event into a
gladiatorial match is a timely reminder of that reality.

Speaking of which… Grab some popcorn and check out the video
below.

And for a wider view of the action, here’s a different
perspective.