Patrick Lynch (police officer)

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Patrick Lynch
Born1964
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationTrade union leader; Police Officer
Known forPresident, Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York
Spouse(s)Kathleen Casey
Children2

Patrick Lynch is an American police union leader, police officer, and President of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York.[1]

Early life and education[]

Lynch was born in Bayside, Queens to an Irish Catholic family. He is the youngest of seven children. His father was a subway motorman for 30 years. He went to Monsignor Scanlan High School in the Bronx.

Career[]

Lynch worked for a short time as a New York City Subway conductor, but on January 4, 1984, he became a police officer with the New York City Police Department. He has been described as being the most powerful police union chief in the world, having served in this role since 1999 and winning reelection to a fifth term in 2015.[1][2] Lynch makes $85,292 per year as a police officer and $85,292 per year as the head of the union.[3] He has been described as "New York City's Blue Bulldog"[1] for being the head of the 23,000-member Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York.[4]

Personal life[]

Lynch is married to Kathleen Casey, and has two sons, both of whom are New York City police officers.[1]

Conflicts[]

Lynch has a history of conflicting with New York City Hall.[5] In 2007, he stated that the PBA "could never support former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for any elected office."[6] He was a huge critic of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly as well as Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Lynch spoke against the city's teachers' union boss Michael Mulgrew for co-sponsoring Al Sharpton's rally against stop-and-frisk, saying "It is absolutely ridiculous that [Mulgrew] . . . would waste his members' dues to get involved with a march that has nothing to do with teachers or his union."[7] In the wake of 2014 killings of NYPD officers, Lynch turned his back on Mayor Bill de Blasio due to the belief the that political climates set by the mayor and other government officials led to the killing of the two officers.[4] After the autopsy of Eric Garner, who died as a result of a choke hold in July 2014 while being suspected of selling loose cigarettes, he defended the actions of the NYPD officers.[8]

In November 2019, both Lynch and de Blasio criticized Bloomberg's apology for the stop-and-frisk policy which occurred under his administration.[9][10] Lynch released a statement that said, in part, “The apology is too little, too late”; "Mayor Bloomberg could have saved himself this apology if he had just listened to the police officers on the street”; “We said in the early 2000s that the quota-driven emphasis on street stops was polluting the relationship between cops and our communities”; and “His administration’s misguided policy inspired an anti-police movement that has made cops the target of hatred and violence, and stripped away many of the tools we had used to keep New Yorkers safe.”[9]

On August 18, 2020, Lynch and the PBA endorsed Donald Trump for President in the 2020 United States presidential election and appeared in the 2020 Republican National Convention.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "The Blue Bulldog". 22 October 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Patrick Lynch, Police Union Chief Who Fought de Blasio, Wins a 5th Term". 5 June 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
  3. ^ "Big dippers: City union chiefs pull 2 salaries". New York Post. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  4. ^ a b ""Blood On Many Hands": Police Unions Blame De Blasio For Death Of 2 Cops". Gothamist. Archived from the original on 2014-12-25.
  5. ^ Ross Barkan. "Police Unions Have History of Warring With City Hall - New York Observer". New York Observer.
  6. ^ "New York police union, past mayors: Attacks on all parties". Slate Magazine.
  7. ^ "NYC teachers, police unions in all-out war". New York Post. August 14, 2014.
  8. ^ NDN (19 September 2014). "PBA President Pat Lynch defends NYPD after expert examines Eric Garner's final autopsy". chicagotribune.com.
  9. ^ a b "'Too little, too late': Police union president slams Bloomberg 'stop and frisk' apology". WPIX 11 New York. 2019-11-17. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  10. ^ Campanile, Carl; McCarthy, Craig; Feis, Aaron (2019-11-17). "Police union, de Blasio blast Bloomberg over stop-and-frisk apology". New York Post. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  11. ^ Trump endorsed by NYC police union — a chilling portent
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