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Casual Corruption, Defined

police cop ticket

I feel like I'm a relatively jaded person. I don't like to think of myself as naive. I know that some people get a pass for certain things because of what they do and who they know. It happens, that's life.

And yet, I still can't help but be vaguely gobsmacked that ... this ... exists:

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.

Well, I mean, if they're just used by cops to wriggle out of speeding tickets then ... what's that? They're given as what?

"All the cops I spoke to were . . . very disappointed they couldn’t hand them out as Christmas gifts."

Burn it all down.

I guess I shouldn't be that surprised; I remember when I first moved back to Virginia and asked the friendly DMV agent, tongue-in-cheek, if I could get a Fraternal Order of Police license plate for my car. She smiled and asked if I were a member. I said no. She shook her head and kind of cocked it at me like "We're not stupid, you know." The theory being, well, cops probably aren't going to pull their own over, are they?

But the idea of just handing get-out-of-jail-free cards as Christmas gifts is another level of brazenness altogether. It's insane. I know we conservatives maintain a blind spot when it comes to police unions—we'll rail all day against lazy, incompetent teachers getting to keep their jobs because the NEA is all-knowing and all-powerful, but the issue of bad cops staying on the beat rarely merits a mention, despite the life-or-death consequences of incompetent, gun-wielding police officers on the streets—but this sort of thing should be outrageous to anyone who pretends to care about law and order.