The Criminal Really Does Return to the Scene of the Crime

 

     Even before I'd begun drafting out my still-unfinished novel, A Game of Hangman years ago (which takes place in 1895 and features Teddy Roosevelt), I'd heard of the famous story of the commissioner patrolling the streets of New York with the NYPD. Thanks to Mayor Strong's anti-corruption initiatives, Roosevelt had been named the president of the NYPD Board of Commissioners, then consisting of four men. 

      It was partly optics, of course. Roosevelt wanted to project a sincere image of combating crime but he also wanted to keep a close eye on his patrolmen to make sure they wouldn't loaf on the job and take graft. Roosevelt, like Strong, openly campaigned on taking on corruption within the NYPD. Roosevelt's ascension to the top spot on the city's constabulary came on the heels of the Lexow Committee that was formed by Clarence Lexow to root out corruption on the police force.

     Trump's proposed jaunt through Washington DC has been met with mockery and rightly so. DC is one of those Democrat-run cities that Trump snarls at. He's lied about the crime rate, claiming it's out of control and vowing to break down homeless encampments when the plain fact is violent crime in the Capitol is at a 30 year low. What gave Trump a rationale to send in the National Guard was when "Big Balls", a former DOGE staffer, was beaten up by two 15 year-olds during a failed car jacking. What set him off, obviously, was that both teens were black. To Trump, it was the Central Park Five all over again, only this time with real perpetrators (albeit from Maryland).

      From an optics standpoint, it's difficult to see what Trump will get out of this stunt, considering he'll be swaddled by Metro Police, the DC National Guard, other federal agents plus  the Secret Service. Not only does that project an image of cowardice instead of courage, but the very thought of a physical coward like Commander Bone Spurs actually participating in an arrest inspires laughter.

     Roosevelt was out on the streets in 1890s New York City not because he was surrounded by his men. Rather than them keeping an eye on him, he was keeping an eye on them. Guided by strong Dutch conservatism and moralism, Roosevelt, the guy who "spoke softly and carried a big stick", really did put himself at hazard. Trump would never think to do that and would see, first and foremost, to his own personal safety. Plus, Trump never speaks softly and only carries a big stick when someone brings a baseball bat to the Oval Office.

     His insistence on going out only while DC is under armed occupation stands in stark contrast to the Obamas and Bidens, who frequently were seen taking in dinner or a movie in the nation's Capitol. 

     All he's going to wind up doing is make himself look like a mall cop. There will be no insurrection to inflame this time. In fact, it could be said that the biggest crime wave that DC has seen in recent years was the one Trump created at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, carried out by those he'd pardoned on January 20th.

     And his tough guy pretense (I can perfectly see him fleeing if he saw someone spit on the sidewalk) could easily get someone killed, someone, unlike Trump, who'd never committed a crime.