Letter To The Editor

What Does “Distinguished Service” Mean Now?

Months after the killing of Nyah Mway, the City of Utica honored the three police officers involved with distinguished service awards.

That fact alone should stop us.

Awards are not neutral. They are statements of value. They tell the public, and every officer watching, what behavior is affirmed, protected, and elevated. They define the culture more clearly than any press release ever could.

Nyah Mway was thirteen years old. He was profiled, pursued, and killed. The case raised serious questions about judgment, proportionality, and accountability. Those questions have not been resolved. Records requests remain unanswered. Transparency has been delayed. The family has received no clarity, only time.

And yet, honors were still bestowed.

This is not about legal guilt or innocence. It is about timing, judgment, and message. When an institution chooses to celebrate officers connected to a child’s death while the facts remain contested and the public remains in the dark, it sends a chilling signal: outcomes matter less than loyalty, and scrutiny won’t be met with reward.

If distinguished service can include actions that result in the death of a child, then the term has lost all meaning.

Awards should reflect the highest standards of restraint, care, and accountability, especially in cases involving children. Instead, these honors communicate that the institution has already closed ranks, moved on, and decided the story for itself.

For the public, this is not reassurance.
It is alienation.

If the city wants trust, it cannot hand out medals before it hands out answers.

Until transparency comes first, these awards do not represent service to the community.
They represent service to the system, at any cost.