Lawyers Blog
NYPD Ticket Fixing Scandal in Conjunction with Police Misconduct in Fabricating Probable Cause for Arrest
New York City criminal lawyers and NYC DWI DUI attorneys have been asked to comment recently on the arrests of many members of the New York City Police Department in the so called “ticket fixing” scandal. The Bronx County District Attorney’s office in conjunction with NYPD internal affairs bureau has arrested and is prosecuting several police officers who have allegedly used their position and authority to cause family and friends summonses issued by fellow NYPD officers to be dismissed. Many NYC criminal lawyers and New York City DUI DWI attorneys have commended the DA’s office and IAB for taking such action against fellow “colleagues”, especially in the sense that this could harm some of their cases, if any of these police officers are witnesses on cases presently being prosecuted, or cases that have been prosecuted in the past. Other New York criminal lawyers and DUI DWI lawyers think that this was somewhat of a petty case of unethically helping out friends and family of these officers, and is better dealt with by administrative hearings and reviews, internally within the police department, with fear of losing their jobs as a police officer, rather than dealing with this in criminal court and facing jail time or a criminal record.
Yet, other criminal lawyers in New York City and DWI DUI attorneys in NYC have an opinion shaded by both of the above beliefs. These New York criminal attorneys and DUI DWI lawyers in New York City feel as if these police officers, in this instance, should be dealt with administratively, within the NYPD, because it deals with them not necessarily lying, or being dishonest, but abusing their power, to help a friend or family member, and not necessarily harming anyone else. But these same NY criminal lawyers and DUI DWI attorneys in New York feel as if the District Attorney’s offices should investigate and potentially prosecute police officers when they claim obvious false reasons why they stopped an individual on the street or in their car. In this instance when a police officer fabricates a reason for stopping an individual and they are arrested there is an obvious negative impact on that individual caused by this fib. Many criminal defense attorneys in New York City and New York DUI DWI lawyers will tell you that all too often police officers seem as if they will say anything in explaining why they stopped an individual on the street or in their car to ensure that their arrests “stick” and is not dismissed because their was no probable cause to stop this individual.
Some of these instances where police officers are fabricating reasons for stopping an individual should be obvious to prosecutors. You wouldn’t need a DWI DUI lawyer in New York City to tell you that when a client is arrested for a DWI and all of the paperwork that a police officer fills out directly after arrest says that he stopped the detained person’s vehicle because he had a crack in his windshield obstructing his view, and then when later on it’s pointed out that no such crack exists and the officer then states that he also pulled the client over because he “thought the car had too much tint in the windows”, that this is an example of an officer who will say anything to make sure his arrest “sticks”. You shouldn’t need a criminal attorney in New York City to point out that when a police officer claims he saw an individual holding a small zip lock bag of a controlled substance in plain view, especially in light of the fact that the police officers observation post is quite a distance away, that this is another example of a police officer who will say anything to make sure his arrest is further prosecuted.
Prosecutors in most counties, such as : Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Westchester, Nassau, Richmond, Rockland and Suffolk have their hands full and their resources stretched to the limit in prosecuting cases. Criminal defense attorneys in New York and DUI DWI lawyers in NY will tell you that it is more important to use resources in prosecuting police officers who make obvious fabrications for stopping individuals thereby casing arrests on false probable cause, then arresting police officers for making their friends and families tickets “disappear”. These officers should be dealt with administratively with risk of suspension or losing their job.