NYPD Ticket-Fixing Scandal: Indictments for 17 Cops Expected Today
Prosecutors on Tuesday are expected to ask a Bronx Grand Jury to indict 17 cops and NYPD officers for being involved in a ticket fixing scandal that was uncovered following a two-year investigation.
The probe is becoming the biggest scandal to hit the New York Police Department in decades. Seventeen officers, including officials of New York’s largest police union, face charges of grand larceny, perjury, bribery, obstruction, and rewarding official misconduct.
Prosecutors implicated hundreds of cops for providing ticket breaks to friends and family. The Yankees’ senior director of operations Doug Behar reportedly had a speeding ticket “disappear” in exchange for baseball season benefits, and another officer fixed a ticket in exchange for home repairs. Others received fancy meals and gifts.
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One union delegate is being held on trial for threatening his wife with a service weapon, then having his friends at the police station discard of the evidence, according to The New York Daily News.
Two more officers are being tried for profiting from drug sale earnings. Yet another officer disposed of his drunk driving record.
The case first surfaced two years ago when the U.S. Internal Affairs began tapping the phone of Jose Ramos, a union delegate of the 40th Precinct, based on suspicion that he had ties with a Queens drug dealer and ticket fixing.
Fifty officers have been called to testify over the two-year period.
Ramos’s confession spurred the ticket fixing investigation, during which time over 25 police officers’ phones were tapped. Recorded conversations revealed bribery, prostitution, and arrest fixing.
No arrests have been made so far. Most officers indicted Tuesday will be given the option to surrender instead of being handcuffed in their precincts or homes.
The evolution of the investigation has had detrimental effects on the police force. A larger majority of officers have asked for early retirement, forty officers have pleaded immunity to the Grand Jury, and 62-year- old officer Robert McGee attempted suicide last week by touching the third rail of an elevated subway line. McGee remains in stable condition.
The Grand Jury awarded McGee immunity just the week before, and his involvement in the ticket-fixing scandal is still unclear.
After 6 months of testimony, arrests are expected to commence next week.
