uns unsubstantiat unsubstantiated. without even going in? i m suggesting it s possible. reporter: howard safir says he remembers back in the 1970s and 80s in new york when during a time of more violence toward the police, the police were called blue flower pots because they sat in their cars not doing much. now, neither safir nor jim pasko of the fraternal order of police believe we re headed back to a period like that but safir worries about how police will behave if they continue to feel unappreciated. randi? brian todd in washington, thank you very much. let s talk more about the tension between the public and police. joining me now 1 reverend marcos miranda and vince ward from the center from constitutional rights. nice to see you both, thank you for coming back. you heard brian todd s reporting there, reverend. do you think this tension between the nypd now and city hall could actually lead to a spike in crime?
reporter: fraternal order of police director jim pasko is critical of the ferguson police department in the situation saying that department was unwilling or unable to protect darren wilson while he was still formally part of their force after the michael brown shooting. pasko says the ferguson police never protected wilson and said that s what the police department is supposed to do. we tried several times to get response from the ferguson police to that comment. we ve not heard back. carol? it seems to take a lot of i don t know. i mean, i think officer darren wilson should have been protected but it would be costly, wouldn t it? it really would. now, the law enforcement expert we spoke to in our piece said if you re paying a police officer a standard rate they would get maybe $30 an hour minimum. now in this case you re also talking about multiple officers over the course of a day or a week working in shifts to protect him. then you ve got the cost of food, rental proper
as long as we have to. reporter: fraternal order of police director jim pasko says the off-duty officers aren t being paid by wilson or anyone else to protect him. pasko wouldn t elaborate on the nature of the protection. it s likely very discreet. a low key protection, not a marked unit in front of a house that draws as much attention as it may divert, maybe one person, maybe two people. so that officer wilson former officer wilson can sleep at night. reporter: wilson s lawyers say it s not just darren wilson these officers are protecting. there are threats out there not only against himself but his family as well. reporter: including wilson s new wife who is pregnant and on leave from the ferguson police. one concern the attorneys and law enforcement experts have, efforts by hackers and others to track darren wilson down. there were cyber activists in our world who are going to be actively trying to find out, where is darren wilson? they re going to be trying to find
they can track and put out in public where he is and really create an enhanced threat to him. reporter: st. louis county community activist john gaskin doesn t begrudge the protection but says the people protecting wilson should ask themselves the tough questions. the question that comes to mind for me, do they feel as though darren wilson was doing his job? and the question becomes, would they have done it? reporter: jim pasko is critical of the ferguson police department saying it was, quote, unwilling or unable to protect darren wilson while he was still formally part of their force after the michael brown shooting. pasko says the ferguson police never protected darren wilson and said, quote, that s what the police department is supposed to do. we tried several times to get response from the ferguson police. we didn t hear back. brian todd, cnn, washington. darren wilson and his family aren t the only people getting death threats and other kinds of
subsiding. he s been threatened over the phone, in e-mails, on social media. apparentlyly are bounties on hi head. now cnn has learned he has been protected by off duty police officers who have been by his side since the august shooting of michael brown. fraternal order of police members from the surrounding area volunteered and have provided by him with security from that time to the present. how long will you be doing this? as long as we have to i fraternal order of police says the off duty officers are not being paid by wilson or anyone else. pasko would not talk about the protection. it s likely very discreet. a low key unit, maybe one person, maybe two people. so that officer wilson, former officer wilson, can sleep at night. reporter: wilson s lawyers say it s not just darren wilson