1/ Thinking about making COP LAND (25 yrs ago). My script, about a cult-like suburban town of commuting white cops was premised on the idea that many NYPD didn't live in the 5 boroughs anymore, a conceit the Weinsteins (my studio, close w/ NYPD brass) insisted was impossible.

2/ They said it was impossible because of a residency requirement insisting NYPD live in the place they protected. Of course, I knew cops got around this cause I grew up in a suburban white town of almost all city first responders.

3/ Many NYPD maintained addresses in the city (apartments, mom's place, etc) where they got department mail & paychecks & they had "summer homes" in the burbs where they actually lived. Miramax had me do an opening narration by DeNiro's character to explain my movie differently.

4/ I went along cause it was my 1st big movie & the change didn't really diminish a larger core message of urban police forces turned into organized crime. But now it makes me think about why they wanted me to avoid shining a light on this issue.

5/ When cops don't live in a place they protect, they're not protecting their community. The people in the city r devalued. Indeed, many commuting cops worry most about "containing problems" in the city so they don't "leak" to the burbs where they live. This produces sickness.

6/ It's not easy being a good cop. God knows we need good cops. So it's easy to talk someone into abandoning / de-emphasizing residency rules. "Why shouldn't a good cop be able to live where he wants?" goes the argument. Well, because commuting cops bring a different attitude.

7/ Commuting cops are 9-5 soldiers in a land that is not their own. They do not have vested interest in embracing the place they patrol, rather, their interest in in "containing" it. This produces quiet pernicious and systemic racism.

8/ The key opposition to laws like this r Police Unions & more so, associations. Many give $ to these fraternities to get a sticker & and implicit favor. We tend to get confused when our values involves crossing a "union". But these r just lobbying organizations like any other.