Tuesday night’s Columbia protest-clearing restored my pride as a cop in the NYPD

The NYPD’s response to the disorder at Columbia and CCNY’s campuses Tuesday night brought a strange feeling to me, one I haven’t felt for four years: pride.

Pride at having spent 32 years as a member of the department.

Pride in the fact that my immediate family (dad, brother, son and I) have a combined total of just under 100 years of service with the Finest.

Pride at having worked with, and for, some of the most exceptional men and women I’ve ever met.

And sadness that far too many of my NYPD colleagues’ lives were sacrificed in the line of duty, in service to their fellow New Yorkers.

That feeling of pride has been missing for four years, since the 2020 riots following George Floyd’s death.