DON'T THEY CALL THAT 'PROFESSIONAL COURTESY'?

So what else is new? This has been a longtime tradition not only at NYPD, but among cops all over the country. When police officers give ‘passes’ to their family, friends, other cops and big shots, they justify it by saying they are just showing them a professional courtesy, just like doctors and lawyers do. Well, not exactly! When doctors and lawyers provide their services to each other and their family members for free, that’s not the same as letting someone slide with a violation of the law. And when cops get paid for fixing tickets, that’s just plain bribery!

INSIDE THE NYPD’S TICKET-FIXING SCANDAL
Internal Affairs caught a Bronx Sgt. trying to make a traffic violation disappear for an honorary deputy commissioner. Union officials say that fixing tickets has been part of the NYPD culture and has been widely accepted among department brass.

By Larry Celona and Bob Fredericks

The New York Post
April 23, 2011

NEW YORK — Internal Affairs cops got a big break in their exploding ticket-fixing probe when they caught a Bronx sergeant shamelessly trying to make a traffic violation disappear for an honorary NYPD deputy commissioner, The Post has learned.

The incident shed light on the widespread practice of cops quashing tickets for big shots, sometimes at the orders of their superiors.

Early last year, police-connected businessman Albert Thompson - who shares his deputy-commish title with celebs like Donald Trump and rubs shoulders with top brass, including Commissioner Ray Kelly - called his buddy, Sgt. Keshawn Hickman, saying he needed to get rid of a moving violation.

Hickman found out the ticket was already being heard in Bronx traffic court, and allegedly dispatched two rookies to take care of the problem.

"He told them to go down to traffic court and see officer so-and-so and have him take care of the ticket and say it's for the chief so-and-so," a source said.

That officer would then make up an excuse to the judge why the ticket should be voided, and the problem would be solved.

But the plan quickly unraveled when the cops sent to the courtroom started wandering around like lost puppies and drew the attention of a sergeant who was not in on the scheme.

"A sergeant comes up and says, 'Can I help you?' and they say they're there to take care of this ticket, and the sergeant says, 'What?' and he reports them to IAB," the source said.

When the unidentified chief learned of the plot, he said he'd never heard of Thompson - and Hickman was yanked from his cushy post at Bronx Borough headquarters near Crotona Park to the 41st Precinct near crime-ridden Hunts Point.

It's unclear what happened to the rookies, who spilled details of the plan to the IAB investigators.

Police conversations about this ticket-fix incident were later caught on wiretaps set up as part of the larger probe that began in 2008.

A source said the example proves that the fixing epidemic "is not a union issue, it is a job issue coming from all ranks, even much higher than sergeant."

As many as 400 cops - most of them assigned to 12 Bronx precincts - could face departmental charges for allegedly fixing tickets. If found guilty, they could be fired, lose benefits or be reprimanded.

And Bronx DA Robert Johnson has convened a grand jury that is weighing criminal charges against another 40 officers accused of taking bribes for fixing tickets for relatives and friends.

At least one Yankee executive saw his ticket go away, The Post has learned.

"I have been on the job for nearly three decades, and it was never deemed unusual to get calls from high-ranking department members when a summons was given to their family member or friends," said Edward Mullins, head of the Sergeants Benevolent Association.

Thompson, who falsely claims he is the brother of former Comptroller Bill Thompson, played dumb when confronted outside his Harlem brownstone last night.

"Look, people drop my name all the time. I don't know what you're talking about," said the businessman, who was head of the honorary deputy police commissioners foundation.

"Al's always there during the good times and bad, at funerals, fundraisers and celebrations," the source said. "He's on a first-name basis with all police brass."

Honorary deputy police commissioners are civilians who've given money or benefits to the department or its charities. The plum honor includes a badge and ID card.