The calculus of impunity

Assaulting police officers is not a joke, or a political stunt--it is a crime

Greg Maresca ——Bio and Archives--March 8, 2026

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The email was brief but impactful, just like the New Yorker who sent it: “Thought this might interest you.” Attached was video of several NYPD officers responding to a disorderly crowd in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park. The officers were pelted with snowballs and other debris by an overflow and unforgiving horde. Some suffered lacerations that resulted in a hospital visit.

When people believe there are no consequences, behavior changes

When people believe there are no consequences, behavior changes. A political and prosecutorial culture that minimizes certain offenses sends a clear message and human nature combined with street cred responds accordingly. Instead of being just another gathering, crowds become a shield. In large groups, individuals feel invisible, assuming police won’t scrutinize hours of video to identify suspects. Officers are often outnumbered and constrained by policy and do-nothing prosecutors make little if any arrests, especially those tied to protests that are ideologically charged.

Officers are expected to maintain order, yet the environment often signals that crowds can act with impunity. When a hostile group realizes it can overwhelm police, even something like a snowball becomes a weapon of defiance.

That thin blue line holds because most people know not to put their hands on cops or interfere with them.

Assaulting police officers is not a joke, or a political stunt--it is a crime.

The mass flight of the police ranks combined with the difficulty of recruiting capable officers demoralizes a seasoned department that pushes them out the door and lowers the bar for whomever dares to enter.

If you are a lifelong Brooklynite, you don’t fade into the wallpaper--you contact the mayor’s office directly. Fittingly, my email correspondent’s grandfather and uncle both retired from the NYPD serving the city of our birth with distinction and dedication that this present age barely seems to recall.

I expected nothing less, after all, she’s a Maresca.

Maresca is a New York City native and a Marine Corps veteran living in Flyover, Pennsylvania.

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