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Cops Facing Drug-Profit Charges As Ticket-Fixing Scandal Indictments Near
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 16, 2011
Modified Sep 16, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 16, 2011
Modified Sep 16, 2011
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With the ticket-fixing scandal burning through the NYPD already causing one officer to attempt suicide, prosecutors are starting to worry about the mental health of cops involved in the investigation—but the NYPD is likely going to resemble The Shield a lot more before things get any better. In addition to the ticket-fixing, many cops will be charged with more serious crimes that were revealed as a result of the probe: “I think people are going to be shocked by the seriousness of these crimes...[including] cops dealing with drug dealers and proceeds from drug sales. It’s going to be more like cops knowing where drug money is stashed and then taking the money,” one source told the Post.
Even with those more serious charges hanging over their heads, it seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same in many precincts. A policeman and former union delegate defended the practice of making tickets disappear to NY1: "Nothing was done corruption-wise. I never asked for money to fix summons, I never asked for a favor to fix a summons. It is a courtesy. You might as well indict this whole department. It is a widespread epidemic." Earlier this year, the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, the union for the NYPD's 12,000 front-line supervisors, vigorously defended "the culture of extending courtesies to members and their families within the NYPD."
And despite a slowdown on tickets in the wake of the massive probe, it seems NYPD higher-ups have started laying down the law once again for officers to hit their quotas (or "productivity goals"). According to the News, the NYPD's chief of transportation James Tuller has begun sweating commanders at recent meetings over whether their cops had written 15 summonses for the month. The pressure from above is bound to cause negative reverberations throughout the force: "Most precinct commanders don't give a s--t about summons 'productivity.' Their careers are based on crime reduction. The bosses can push a precinct C.O., but you still gotta get a cop to write them," one cop source said.
Tagged
bronx
cops
drug-profits
nypd
police
Probe
quotas
ticket-fixing
ticket-fixing scheme
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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