Legal Research

New York City Auxiliary Officers Protest "Law and Order" Episode

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Crime and Justice News, February 21, 2008.

"New York auxiliary police officers are unhappy about the Feb. 13 episode of 'Law and Order,' in which an auxiliary officer fired a bullet into a crowd of protesters, killing a woman, the New York Times reports. The character was prosecuted and convicted of second- degree murder and attempted murder. The episode provoked a bitter protest from the ranks of the city's 4,500 authentic auxiliaries. Real-life auxiliary officers, while they do carry nightsticks, are not issued firearms."

"The auxiliary officer's character was dubbed a 'wannabe' police officer and not a "real cop." 'That's the part that gets us,' said Auxiliary Police Officer Michael Stewart. Paul Browne, chief police department spokesman, said the 'Law & Order' plot 'certainly was a departure from reality.' Audrey Davis, a spokeswoman for the show, said, ' 'Law & Order' is fiction. These are not real stories. We are not saying an auxiliary cop, in real life, shot someone.' " 

New York Times

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on February 21, 2008 (boomark / email).