[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.
(Score: 2, Flamebait) by khallow on Tuesday January 23 2018, @04:57PM (3 children)
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday January 25 2018, @05:16PM (2 children)
I have a card, used it, so I know how this works.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday January 25 2018, @06:53PM (1 child)
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.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday January 25 2018, @06:54PM