Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Cop says fake tickets were written, crime complaints ignored

From the Daily News:

The NYPD'S latest whistleblower comes from a most unlikely place - the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.

Officer Frank Palestro was a union delegate at the 42nd Precinct until last week, when he was outed as the tipster who secretly reported allegations of corruption by a lieutenant to Internal Affairs.

After a mousetrap with his name on it was found inside the South Bronx stationhouse, Palestro was transferred to another command for his safety.

Palestro's allegations targeted Lt. Susana Seda, the former midnight platoon commander, who declined comment.

He said she ordered cops to write summonses for traffic violations they did not witness, refused to take crime complaints and tampered with a gun at a crime scene.

"She ordered me to write a summons at the scene of a vehicle accident, and recently I had to testify in traffic court that I didn't witness the red light violation," he said.

Palestro, one of three elected union reps in the precinct, acknowledges it's unheard of for a PBA official to drop a dime on a fellow officer.

Even as he faces being ostracized as a whistleblower, he says he had to report what he and other cops saw.

Palestro said Seda was driven by the pressures of the Compstat and Trafficstat strategies, which rate police performance based on statistics.

13 comments:

georgetheatheist said...

That mouse trap bit is new. Creative. Nice. Sure beats a head in a box or a finger in a sandwich.

Anonymous said...

Crime complaints are ignored. Everyone knows it.

Lino said...

I think this scam may finally be blowing up. One of the local TV news outlets had a story on one cop, from the Bronx who had enough of being pressured to conform to the quotas on arrests and tickets.

They interviewed him along with to black/PR kids who recounted how they had been arrested for "racing" on foot and causing a disturbance. They spent the night in jail but never saw a judge. Charges were dropped and they were told to leave via a back door.

The officer interviewed said that this was a common occurrence.

The segment played secret recordings of commanding officers berating cops that if the don't like these quotas, they can "start delivering pizzas for Dominoes" instead.

Finally, this redolent scam leftover from the Guilinai adm made be getting the exposure it deserves.

Anonymous said...

This is only the tip of the Iceberg.

How many false arrests, illegal search and seizures, evidence tampering, purgery etc... go on DAY to DAY by the New York Pricks and Dicks.

Well when you pay these megalomaniacs $25k starting what can you expect.

Anonymous said...

A la Claude Rains in Casablanca:

"I'm shocked...shocked to find that our gendarmes would rather write tickets to raise money for impoverished NYC than fight crime".

Perhaps our cops should register with "Ticketmaster"...eh Mayor Bum-berg!

Who needs those crooks in blue any way with a nice blued steel S&W in a citizen's pocket.

NRA all the way!

Anonymous said...

If the city wants to make boatloads of money from tickets, just look along Atlantic Avenue here in the 102 Pct. area.

Auto repair shops park their cars on the sidewalks (and not just in front of their place of business), block bus stops and fire hydrants.

Then there are countless drivers who want to make u-turns to the opposite side of the avenue and insist upon making them against the
posted direction of the one way signs (and race to do so).

That said, any complaint to the Precinct - big or small - is, of course, ignored.

Anonymous said...

"Finally, this redolent scam leftover from the Guilinai adm made be getting the exposure it deserves."

Lino, you had me until this. Repeat after me, there are no Republicans in charge of this country, state or city, and Democrats suck just as much.

Anonymous said...

the hard part is that the criminals know this, the drug dealers know this, usually those teenagers who cry are in the wrong. sorry don't buy your story about the kids being persecuted, they are bastards that deserve to be locked up.

are the precincts in the pockets of the drug dealers, pimps & gun runners?

anyone who has contact with the police know how difficult it is for a crime victim to get help. let alone press charges. outrageous.

Anonymous said...

Another place the city can go to make boatloads of money is any school, where double parkers and people parked in crosswalks are everywhere. When you think that this happens twice a day at all the schools, the city should be rolling in dough. If they're not making enough there, how about cracking down on drivers talking on their cellphones.

Anonymous said...

Another losre do-nothing who whines and complains.These "cops" want to show up and just collect a check.Yo can call it a quota or a goal,but it's been like this from day one.The average cop works 23 days a month If you can't arrest 1 person and write 15 summonses a month,you're stupid or lazy.The only problem is when supervisors micro manage and demand a particular summons or arrest.THAT IS WRONG AND THAT IS THE PROBLEM!There is a saying in the nypd that has always been true:20%do 80%of the work.And for your information,this is exactly the kind of "cop" Monserrate was.Whenever he was told to do something ,he cried racism,instead of just doing the minimum and staying under the radar.

Anonymous said...

they don't even deserve 25K - they are usually stupid with small vocabularies and think the solution to domestic violence is to put the husband in one room and the wife in another with no lock on the door

Anonymous said...

ALL cops should be as brave and ethical as this fine soldier and stand up for what's right. Lt. Susana Seda, in contrast SHOULD ROT IN JAIL and when she finally gets out, should be on the UNEMPLOYMENT LINE.

Anonymous said...

Maspeth Mom says....

If you think these cops/sargeants/liutenants are creating their own rules - your wrong- these directives are coming from the TOP heirarchy in NYPD. These are not directives are not made up at precinct level. The street cops are just the fall guys.

They are told by the Administrators of COMSTAT to play with the numbers.