Blue ... and Red

Breslin has the police smoking

Columnist Jimmy Breslin of the New York Daily News and the stereotypical New York City policeman have much in common: both are Irish Catholic, beefy, outspoken and known to take a drop. Usually relations between the commentator and the constabulary have been fraternal. Last week, however, Breslin had the boys in blue seeing red. In denouncing the dismissal of a policewoman who posed nude for a skin magazine before becoming an officer, Breslin accused the police department of a double standard. "Wallowing in filthy sex" is common among officers, he charged.

To prove it, Breslin volunteered himself as "assistant keeper of morals" to help "investigate sex in the police department." Breslin's sarcastic column ran on the same page as a report on the firing of two officers for allegedly raping and sodomizing a prostitute. Bellowing back, the police union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, put its money where its mouth was: it spent $16,240 for a full-page ad in the Daily News (circ. 1.5 million) lambasting Breslin as "the old Saloon Philosopher." Said the ad, signed by P.B.A. President Phil Caruso: "The most astounding thing about the Breslin column was that the Daily News printed it without first smelling Breslin's breath."

Breslin gleefully renewed the attack the next day, demanding a 5% commission from the News for inducing the P.B.A. to take out an ad. News Editor James Wieghart said no, and made it clear that he did not endorse the columns. Said Wieghart: "You have to give columnists leeway, but if I were Breslin, I would be embarrassed." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.