BROOKLYN — Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that alleged police ticket-fixing would be "almost impossible" today thanks to a new electronic monitoring system.
The comments come as the the city awaits the results of a massive investigation whose scale was first reported by DNAinfo. Hundreds of cops could face disciplinary action for making tickets disappear for family and friends before the probe is over.
Some allegedly took money to fix tickets, while others failed to show up at court so that tickets were dismissed.
Bloomberg declined to comment on the alleged scandal, citing the ongoing investigation. But he said the police department's new electronic system makes fixing tickets today "almost impossible."
"There's always a possibility of somebody scamming any system, you can never make it 100 percent bulletproof," he said. "[But] the practice of just calling up and saying 'Can you fix a ticket for me?' really isn’t possible anymore because once something’s in the database electronically there's somebody that can look to see what’s removed and go and see why," Bloomberg told reporters at an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn.
"So I think if it is a problem — and I’ll leave that to the investigation — it was a problem in the past and certainly is very unlikely to be a problem today," he said.
Ah, but what about what happened in the past? It sounds pretty bad:
The tremors being felt around Manhattan today are not from an earthquake, but rather shockwaves emanating downtown from Police Headquarters and City Hall, where officials are preparing for a police scandal the likes of which the city has not felt in decades.
For the past year, internal investigators and prosecutors have been secretly eavesdropping on the telephones of New York City police officers. Most of them are delegates representing the city's Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the union that provides labor and legal counsel to fellow cops, my sources say.
According to insiders, there are thousands of hours of recorded conversations of New York's Finest and a major scandal is about to break wide open with the arrests of 10 officers in a burgeoning ticket-fixing case dating back to 2008.
Other sources believe the arrest figure could double or even triple by the time the grand jury finishes its work in a few weeks, depending on how many targets ultimately cooperate.
I am told the NYPD has a list of at least 24 cops who they will not allow to retire until this investigation is over – which means these officers are all under a criminal cloud.
Some veterans with decades on the force or close to retirement are trembling that their entire careers and pensions could be lost.
There are so many cops being eyed that prosecutors have established thresholds of alleged ticket fixing and wrongdoing to determine which officers will face criminal charges, such as bribery and perjury, and which ones will be charged only by the NYPD.
And that number is staggering.
Sources say it could reach into the hundreds before this is over, including supervisors, who will be slapped with violating various departmental rules — ranging from fudging reports and tampering with official records to failing to take action to stop fellow cops from fixing tickets.
While the Bronx DA's office is spearheading the grand jury probe, public integrity officials have alerted prosecutors in every borough to prepare for pieces of this massive case, which means there are cops being targeted everywhere around the city.
"This is a major citywide investigation," said a knowledgeable source outside of the Bronx.
They are talking scandal the size of the "Dirty Thirty" in Harlem in the mid 1990s, and the "Buddy Boys" in Brooklyn in the 1980s, but thankfully without the violent, venal corruption that accompanied those tales.
Just another instance of Bloomberg - "great" manager that he is, having the people around him stealing the city blind without his knowledge.
CityTime, the DOE outside contract scandal, the test score scandal, the Independence Party scandal, and now the NYPD ticket scandal.
And as usual, it's never his fault.
Helluva mayor this guy is.
Frank Serpico got shot for nothing...There's so much "legal" illegal activities going on in my neighborhood with the cops knowing what's going on...you KNOW the local precinct house is getting paid off to allow certain "trades" to exist in my hood.
ReplyDeleteA LOT of cash to be made in the black markets in so-called victimless crimes...
Bet your last buck that the Kelly-Bloomberg top level PD will not be charged. Just as in the Deutsche Bank top level FD escaped as the mayor and his managers are never wrong-except for Cathie Black and Blue.
ReplyDeleteAnon, I think you're right about this - they'll try and hang it on the lower level cops at the precincts and maybe even the union reps (that was the indication in one of the Murray Weiss articles about the scandal) - but never Kelly and never Bloomberg.
ReplyDeleteFirst anon, I would love to see an independent audit of the crime stats since Bloomberg took office - I know for a fact that they tried to downgrade a theft to a loss in one case - I wonder how often that kind of "downgrade" happens?
Two years ago I get an email informing me that "your new cell phone" will be delivered at some unknown adress. Problem was, I didn't order a new cell phone! So, I had a case of at least partial ID theft on my hands. BUT, the thieves were stupid and didn't know the shipping co. would inform me of the delivery.
ReplyDeleteSo I go to precinct-easy bust right? Just go to this unknown address and bust whoever takes phone...right? There was also a phone # given.
WRONG ! The cops there refused to do ANYTHING. They came up with some bogus BS about how I needed to get a letter "with a rasied imprint" from the vendor, and something else, before they could investigate. TOTAL BS...! I just walked out, and took the proper precautions. For less serious offe3nses (anything short of murder) you get reate like a complete asshole by the police...at least where I am in Brooklyn. When you walk into the precinct, they treat you like garbage. ANYTHING so you don't file any reports of crime. No reports...better for their "data" at the end of the month.