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An unidentified homeless man got sent on a Dickensian misadventure last December after he made the mistake of knocking on the door of NYPD counterterrorism czar Richard Falkenrath (pictured) to ask for a glass of water. Like other czars, Falkenrath is not known for his compassion, and he promptly alerted the local constabulary to the parched roustabout's presence in his Bronx neighborhood. Cops questioned the man and released him, but officers in the NYPD's intelligence threat assessment unit, which handles threats against public officials, later flagged the man's name so they would be informed if he was arrested again. They also notified the Joint Terrorist Task Force, which Falkenrath oversees.
Fast forward to January, when transit officers picked the man up for jumping a subway turnstile. The Daily News reports that instead of simply arresting him, NYPD detectives sent him to a Brooklyn psych ward, where he was held for five weeks. And upon his release, the NYPD contacted his family and had a detective escort him to a relative's home in Chicago. Now Internal Affairs is looking into all this, and a source tells the News, "These are people who are supposed to protect the city from terrorists. What are they doing taking some poor drunk out of state when he didn't commit a crime? It's abuse."
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what ever happened to just giving a poor guy a glass of water?
Sounds like it's Falkenrath who needs an involuntary field trip to the psych ward.
I wish I was a czar.
Must have been a member of the infamous Al-Squeegee terror group.
who's surprised? I'm not surprised. I want a glass of water.
Didn't we see this on the last season of The Wire?
Can you just imagine what would have happened if the guy asked for a beer.
Panhandling on the street is fine but knocking on people's doors is not. No, I do not believe that this bum deserves all this hoopla but if this story had simply been "Czar bitches out bum for knocking on his door for a handout" I would be clapping. You bleeding hearts who live up there on the 20th floor and take cabs instead of the subway most days can say what you will.
"These are people who are supposed to protect the city from terrorists. What are they doing taking some poor drunk out of state when he didn't commit a crime? It's abuse."
Because they can! The badge = divine right.
Clearly Falkenrath (who sounds like a villain from a Bond movie) is abusing his powers by having the poor guy flagged in the JTTF system. But to be honest, most homeless people are mentally ill, which is why they're on the streets. The cops kinda did him a favor by putting him a psych ward. Psych wards are TREATMENT facilities, despite what the press wants you to believe. AND he got sent back to Chicago to his family? Who knows, maybe this was a "helping hand" for this guy in a really weird way.
5 Weeks, free meals, all the water he can drink, and at the end of it all a family reunion! If only every Vagrant received such service! Above and beyond. however, clearly not a Terrorist threat!
I don't see how the poe-poe did wrong on this - they helped a drunk get back to his family in Chicago - sounds like a social service to me...and they kept an eye on him cause he just happened to cross paths with the city terrorism czar and they were thinking it could have been terror related. I don't see what they did wrong here.
Clearly Falkenrath hasn't read "Great Expectations".
He will be back. The winters in Chicago are worse than New York.
Maybe Mr counter terrorism czar needs to open his wallet and pay for the whole trip to Chicago. With the city economy a mess, maybe this kind of thing needs to be brought under control.
He looks like such a great, happy-go-lucky guy in that picture. Par for the course for NYPD, I guess. The bum was lucky the guy didn't jump him, beat him then claim he tried to break into the house. Let that be a warning to all you bums out there. Don't mess with Dick FuckingWrath.
this guy is just another power-mad pig abusing his authority.
but as Papercutninja said
the pigs actually ended up doing this guy some good. it was for all the wrong reasons, but in the end this homeless guy is with relatives now & not stinking up my subway car. sounds like a happy ending.
the great thing is that the guy's civil rights were violated which means he'll sue the city which we the taxpayers will have to pay for.
What civil right exactly was violated? You do realize that all it takes is two agreeing doctors to commit someone. And fare evasion IS a crime.
Always steer clear of guys named "Dick". Be it Dick Falkenrath or Dick Cheney.
You don't just knock on Himmler's door to ask for water.