When Bad Things Happen In Philadelphia
Just seeing the headline “Back off Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and allow her to find footing in her new city” was too much for me.
I am a ‘no excuses’ sort of guy. One of my favorite quotes is: “I attribute my success to this — I never gave or took an excuse.” — Florence Nightingale
When I looked up some evidence that Florence Nightingale said this quote, I ran into this gem: “Yes, I do see the difference now between me and other men. When a disaster happens, I act and they make excuses.”
So, that’s what I am asking everyone with a job to do. Act instead of making excuses. That goes for the Philadephia Police Commissioner and columinsts for The Philadelphia Inquirer and all of the rest. That is the standard.
Back to the article. “Some of the things that went down on Outlaw’s watch were clearly problematic, such as the use of tear gas, which hadn’t been used in Philly since the MOVE bombing in 1985.”
All leaders, including the Police Commissioner, has to prepare for bad things to happen and draw up a plan of action when said bad things happen. Furthermore, train for preparedness, observe execution, then review performance.
What’s supposed to happen when there’s a riot? Or a protest down the Parkway? Or a police shooting? The person in charge has to take charge up front. There are no excuses for that.
We all know bad things happen in Philadelphia. It’s not fake news.
The column also said ““I’m not saying she’s doing a great job but I’m not going to say she’s doing a bad job. She’s doing a challenging job. This job is challenging no matter who you give it to,” said David Fisher of the National Black Police Association”.
Well, Florence Nightingale had a couple of challenging jobs as well. She fought a cholera outbreak as a superindendent of a hospital, a job she was promoted to after a year of working as a nurse. After that, she was tasked to “organize a corps of nurses to tend to the sick and fallen soldiers in the Crimea” where “More soldiers were dying from infectious diseases like typhoid and cholera than from injuries incurred in battle.”
Nightingale took action. “She procured hundreds of scrub brushes and asked the least infirm patients to scrub the inside of the hospital from floor to ceiling. Nightingale herself spent every waking minute caring for the soldiers.” She did that for a year and a half. She worked for 18 months straight, improving conditions. She overhauled the food program, laundry services, and created educations opportunities. Also, “Based on her observations in the Crimea, Nightingale wrote Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army, an 830-page report analyzing her experience and proposing reforms for other military hospitals operating under poor conditions.”
The article also says “People shouldn’t be so quick to dump on Outlaw.” What I can’t figure out from this article is why ANYONE would have any mercy on the Police Commissioner, when “people were critiquing her moves or lack of them — as I also did — when I wrote about the low profile she was keeping.” What has she done to deserve keeping her job? What actions has she taken? The author doesn’t even bother to offer any.
The writer says “Much of the blame for the city’s lack of preparedness and poor leadership last summer should fall on Mayor Kenney and other top officials including former Managing Director Brian Abernathy, who resigned after coming under fire.”
Nope. Here’s why. If the Police Commissioner was ready to get things done, there was plenty of opportunity to do so, with so many things going on. On-going gun violence, coronavirus, and George Floyd protests. A cornucopia of things to prepare for and tackle. And what did she do? I mean, other than tear gas people?
So, no, it’s everyone’s job to ask that she, and anyone else not doing their jobs be held accountable. No excuses.
