The Decline and Fall (cont’d.): Why didn’t the NYPD stop the Central Park wolf pack? “With Amadou Diallo, the

cops went too far. In

Central Park, not far enough. But guess what? It’s the same

problem.” The author makes a case that the problem is the NYPD’s contempt for the people of the city, leading it to be both tough on suspected ‘perps’ and soft on victims; and that this attitude trickels down from above, ultimately from Giuliani. There’s also the possibility that this is payback for recent protests of police brutality including, of course, the flap over the new Springsteen song “American Skin (41 Shots)”. [Salon] But let’s get more basic — is why the police didn’t stop this even the right question to ask? Giuliani actually tried to softpeddle the events (until the rising tide of public outcry against the police flipped him to a get-tough ‘spin’) by saying that there wasn’t any more violence at this year’s Puerto Rican Day parade than there was last year, and one of his police spokespeople said something along the lines of: what’s the big deal, this happens in New Orleans every year at Mardi Gras? It’s unbelievable to me that we have come to the point of living in the kind of world where bystanders are going to be savaged at a public celebration unless they have police protection.