Everybody believes that cops have a 'quota' of tickets to write. Cops, of course, deny this. Or they say things like 'there is an administrative expectation' that an officer should write 'X' numbers of tickets.
A couple of years ago, the Montana Highway Patrol went begging to the legislature for a raise. If they got the raise, they promised to increase the number of "enforcement contacts" that they made from 6 to 8 a day.
This never made sense to me. They should have been making as many 'enforcement contacts' as were needed. If they weren't making as many 'enforcement contacts' as were needed, then why were they getting a raise? And, if they were making as many 'enforcement contacts' as were needed, how can they increase the number without stopping people who didn't deserve to be stopped?
As usual, my questions fell on deaf ears in Helena.
Anyway, the NYPD is back in the news for yet another scandal. Apparently, they have been 'fixing' tickets. Depending upon the source, (primary source here and here), up to 400 officers[1] may be involved.
A grand jury has been empaneled and is looking to prosecute "two dozen officers". Hundreds, (According to the NYTimes, 300. According to the NY1, 400.), more may be 'disciplined'.
The investigation has involved wiretaps and put hundreds of officers under scrutiny. Wiretaps revealed that "a Bronx police officer told a union delegate that a cousin of the officer’s boyfriend had received a speeding ticket in Queens." The union delegate told the officer the ticket would get fixed. He, also, involved two other officers in the union and agreed to talk to the officer issuing the summons, (everybody else in the world calls them 'tickets', but in NYC, they are 'summons'.), with the intent that the ticket would be 'fixed' when it went to court.
Apparently, the tickets were not 'fixed' for pecuniary reasons. Nobody got paid to 'fix' them, they just did it as a favor.
I am sorry, but I have to ask: Why would you commit a crime as a favor? And, based on the 'friend of a friend of my cousins' version in the NYT, one wonders why a cop would even care about the person who got the ticket. I mean, would you put your job at risk for somebody you don't even know?
I could make comments about how illegal behavior is endemic in most police agencies. (It is.) Or about how some cops are 'hyper-adolescent 12 years olds with guns and badges'. (They are.) Or, I could point out this type of behavior destroys respect for the law. (It does.) Or, I could say tickets have absolutely no effect on how people drive and are, simply, an additional tax levied at will by the cops. (They are.)
But the issue here is one of the public trust. Which, as I read it, the NYPD has trouble earning. If you are going to screw with one person, then your screwing needs to be consistent. It shouldn't vary according to who the alleged violator knows or who's friend of a friend's cousin is a cop.
In reality, it doesn't surprise me that this is happening in a city of 8 million, (I think that's right, if not somebody correct me). With 40,000 cops. What amazes me is it doesn't happen more often.
Update: 24APR11 @ 22:26hrs
The New York Times reports today that the NYPD is implementing a system that will make it much harder to 'fix' tickets. Apparently, they had designed and were ready to implement their new system before this latest scandal.
They just didn't do it. Does that even make sense? No, but that's okay. It seems very little the NYPD does makes sense.
[1] Least you think that this a problem limited to the NYPD, it isn't. It is happening right now in Orange County, CA and it happened in New Jersey in 2007. That this happened in New Jersey isn't all that surprising, because... ...well, because it is New Jersey after all.
A couple of years ago, the Montana Highway Patrol went begging to the legislature for a raise. If they got the raise, they promised to increase the number of "enforcement contacts" that they made from 6 to 8 a day.
This never made sense to me. They should have been making as many 'enforcement contacts' as were needed. If they weren't making as many 'enforcement contacts' as were needed, then why were they getting a raise? And, if they were making as many 'enforcement contacts' as were needed, how can they increase the number without stopping people who didn't deserve to be stopped?
As usual, my questions fell on deaf ears in Helena.
Anyway, the NYPD is back in the news for yet another scandal. Apparently, they have been 'fixing' tickets. Depending upon the source, (primary source here and here), up to 400 officers[1] may be involved.
A grand jury has been empaneled and is looking to prosecute "two dozen officers". Hundreds, (According to the NYTimes, 300. According to the NY1, 400.), more may be 'disciplined'.
The investigation has involved wiretaps and put hundreds of officers under scrutiny. Wiretaps revealed that "a Bronx police officer told a union delegate that a cousin of the officer’s boyfriend had received a speeding ticket in Queens." The union delegate told the officer the ticket would get fixed. He, also, involved two other officers in the union and agreed to talk to the officer issuing the summons, (everybody else in the world calls them 'tickets', but in NYC, they are 'summons'.), with the intent that the ticket would be 'fixed' when it went to court.
Apparently, the tickets were not 'fixed' for pecuniary reasons. Nobody got paid to 'fix' them, they just did it as a favor.
I am sorry, but I have to ask: Why would you commit a crime as a favor? And, based on the 'friend of a friend of my cousins' version in the NYT, one wonders why a cop would even care about the person who got the ticket. I mean, would you put your job at risk for somebody you don't even know?
I could make comments about how illegal behavior is endemic in most police agencies. (It is.) Or about how some cops are 'hyper-adolescent 12 years olds with guns and badges'. (They are.) Or, I could point out this type of behavior destroys respect for the law. (It does.) Or, I could say tickets have absolutely no effect on how people drive and are, simply, an additional tax levied at will by the cops. (They are.)
But the issue here is one of the public trust. Which, as I read it, the NYPD has trouble earning. If you are going to screw with one person, then your screwing needs to be consistent. It shouldn't vary according to who the alleged violator knows or who's friend of a friend's cousin is a cop.
In reality, it doesn't surprise me that this is happening in a city of 8 million, (I think that's right, if not somebody correct me). With 40,000 cops. What amazes me is it doesn't happen more often.
Update: 24APR11 @ 22:26hrs
The New York Times reports today that the NYPD is implementing a system that will make it much harder to 'fix' tickets. Apparently, they had designed and were ready to implement their new system before this latest scandal.
They just didn't do it. Does that even make sense? No, but that's okay. It seems very little the NYPD does makes sense.
[1] Least you think that this a problem limited to the NYPD, it isn't. It is happening right now in Orange County, CA and it happened in New Jersey in 2007. That this happened in New Jersey isn't all that surprising, because... ...well, because it is New Jersey after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment