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posted by martyb on Tuesday January 23 2018, @12:58PM   Printer-friendly
from the equal-treatment-under-the-law? dept.

[City of New York] Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association boss Pat Lynch slashed the maximum number of cards that could be issued to current cops from 30 to 20, and to retirees from 20 to 10, sources told The Post.

The cards are often used to wiggle out of minor trouble such as speeding tickets, the theory being that presenting one suggests you know someone in the NYPD.

The rank and file is livid.

“They are treating active members like s–t, and retired members even worse than s–t,” griped an NYPD cop who retired on disability. “All the cops I spoke to were . . . very disappointed they couldn’t hand them out as Christmas gifts.”

Source: NYPost

The cards, issued for various states and agencies -- such as the DEA -- are available for purchase on eBay for around $100.


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  • (Score: 2, Flamebait) by khallow on Tuesday January 23 2018, @04:57PM (3 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 23 2018, @04:57PM (#626621) Journal
    As was noted by Arik earlier in this thread, these are just promo cards with no legal significance. What would be the point of such a list? It doesn't do anything useful and it has potential for blowback (say if a hostile city or state government gets ahold of the list and uses it to punish supporters of the police union). As repeatedly mentioned, the problem isn't the cards, it's their value in illegally getting people out of minor legal trouble.
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  • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday January 25 2018, @05:16PM (2 children)

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Thursday January 25 2018, @05:16PM (#627757) Journal

    As was noted by Arik earlier in this thread, these are just promo cards with no legal significance.

    I have a card, used it, so I know how this works.

    What would be the point of such a list?

    Fraudulent cards. Duh.

    It doesn't do anything useful and it has potential for blowback (say if a hostile city or state government gets ahold of the list and uses it to punish supporters of the police union).

    That is a little far fetched, don't you think? Though not impossible. Besides, there are other ways they can find this information.

    As repeatedly mentioned, the problem isn't the cards, it's their value in illegally getting people out of minor legal trouble.
    Reply to This

    The card is a token. So yes, the cards are enablers by acting as authentication tokens. The card is physical proof you know a cop. A VIP pass if you will. Without the card, there is no physical token linking you to the NYPD or your cop friend.

    Furthermore, There are two more steps to using the card properly because remember, it's an unwritten courtesy, not an entitlement. The first step is the officer who gives you a card also writes your name, their name, badge and phone number on it with a sharpie. Without that, it's just a PBA card and no cop would accept that as a token and you could get you into a lot more trouble with a blank or bogus card.

    The second step is to know how to courteously use the card. When you are pulled over the respectful way to present the card is to slip it under your license or other paperwork. It is never to be handed separately or on top of your paperwork as that is seen as demanding or the equivalent of saying "I know someone, let me go." No. You have to be subtle about it and let the officer stumble across the card as if you casually mentioned "By the way, I happen to know a fellow officer". Once they see your PBA card they ask you a few more questions such as what precinct do they work at and if they call this number will they know who I am. If they suspect you are lying, they will call. If not they hand you the PBA card, run a quick check to make sure all of your paperwork is in order (no suspensions, warrants, etc) and you are on your way with a courteous warning.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday January 25 2018, @06:53PM (1 child)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 25 2018, @06:53PM (#627806) Journal

      That is a little far fetched, don't you think? Though not impossible. Besides, there are other ways they can find this information.

      Of course, I don't think it is far fetched. Let us keep in mind that the IRS has demanded over the last few years the donor lists for various political ("social welfare" in the lingo) non profits (eg, the Tea Party [wikipedia.org] thing) and sometimes disclosed [propublica.org] confidential information (financial information was apparently part of the illegal disclosures, but not donor lists) to private parties.

      We also have other examples where lists kept by or obtained by government have ended up abused. Gun owners were published [poynter.org] in the New York City area. There's also the never-ending abuse of lists of drivers licenses and home ownership, mined for advertising and such.

      A particularly notable example was "Section 215" of the PATRIOT act. It allowed the FBI to hoover up all sorts of interesting lists. Originally, the clause was justified on the basis that 911 terrorists had checked out books with suspicious titles with the clause useful for obtaining such evidence in the future. But it has since been used to collect large-scale phone records and other things. A list of police union card recipients would be a valid target under this law, once the appropriate, secret rationalizations had been carried through.

      In other words, US-based governments and the private world already have a track record of abusing such lists and the tools to do so in the near future. If democracy decays further, then such lists would be easy ways to find out who supports the NYC police, allowing for easier build up of lists of enemies or currently unlawful ways to extort concessions from the union.

      And as has been noted before, the distribution of such cards is quite legal and protected by the First Amendment. The use of them to get out of trouble is what is illegal.