Common Sense: Policing Stringer
A couple of weeks ago, a big story in the news was New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s police detail requesting a transfer. The back story centered around the comptroller using the detail to chauffeur his wife to and from work and other non-official uses for the detail.
I have one question. Why does the New York City comptroller even have a police detail? Is his life really in any danger? Are there actually any threats at all on him? Is it reasonable to think that anyone would ever have it out for the city comptroller? Who could even pick him out of a crowd for that matter? Yet the city spends upwards of $1.5 million annually to protect him.
We do the same for Public Advocate James. We provide her with a police detail that costs taxpayers in the neighborhood of $1.5 million annually. Like Stringer, I cannot imagine that there are any serious threats ever on the public advocate. The job itself has little responsibility except to act as an ombudsman with city agencies. That would not lend itself to threats.