“Get Out of Jail Free” Cards in New York
marginalrevolution.com
marginalrevolution.com
- many cops saw PBA cards as corrupt and insulting. So the rule of thumb was you never offered these, you just let the card be visible when reaching for your license. If the cop was in on it they'd then ask you about where you got the card. It was a huge no-no to offer it not just because some cops didn't take it but because even those who would could probably be offended by you not deferring to their authority to decide to ask about it (ie offer to give you a pass) or for being entitled. The net dynamic you wanted was the cop to of his own volition see the card and decide if he wanted to cut you a break since he knew you were connected to the police somehow. (Ie, total corrupt dynamic)
- a big variable was if they took the card or let you keep it. If you were a son or daughter of a cop you probably never got it taken. Otherwise you'd get it taken if you would have otherwise gotten a ticket. If you were just being pulled over for no good reason they'd probably not take the card from you so you could "use" it again.
- these were not gonna get you out of trouble if you did something more than speeding, talking on a cell, etc. If you ran a light or stop sign it was borderline. If you committed a felony or were drunk etc then flashing your PBA card probably would have made your life worse.
I never had one myself but I thought if they did take the card they were supposed to send it to the cop that gave it to you and then they would decide if they should give it back to you.
Not sure how much was true and how much was exaggerated, but some were eye opening.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/us-embassy-congestion_...
There is little the local jurisdiction can do other than ask the diplomat's home country to waive immunity --which almost never happens.
[1]https://nypost.com/2017/10/11/why-dirty-diplomats-can-litera...
Of course this almost never happens.
For these weird PBA cards, I can't see any positive effect for society as a whole that could be brought up in their defense. This is clearly a form of institutionalized corruption, pressed into a handy credit-card format, and it is unworthy of a country like the United States.
For any country that is weak and unpopular currently.
But...I don't find any real existing country that fully matches this description. There are countries in which this unbounded "rule of the powerful" practically exists, but they all try to sugar-coat it, which effectively makes them unworthy of corruption.
Hardline bargaining, sometimes works, very high ROI. Probably underreported, not entertaining/uplifting.
The infraction gets reported to the embassy. Some countries don't care, but a European country for example will not be pleased if their staff are breaking American law.
Yes, corruption, but not exactly a get out of jail free card either. Or that's how it seemed to be, mostly, in NJ, over a decade ago. :)
It's very possible that things are worse today (such things tend to devolve over time), or worse in NYC, or worse than what I saw at the time.
> you just let the card be visible when reaching for your license
I was always told to hand them to the cop underneath your license, but never explicitly mention it.
Edit: I've also heard stories that well monied institutions (hedge funds, etc) will hire security guards from retired NYPD in part to gain access to cards for important employees.
Basically $28 of the registration fee goes to a foundation for injured police, and you get to prominently tell everyone that on the license plate.
I guess it's simpler than handing the ticket to a cop friend and asking them to fix it (happened in our lifetime) but still kills the rule of law.
And when you see this, is it hard to believe there are 2 tiers of justice in the inner city?
That actually worries me more than the cards themselves in some respects, because it means that the average officer's perception of what is fair is utterly, entirely out of whack with reality. It's one, corrupt, thing for these cards to exist under the radar as a means for officers to benefit, but it's another to not even see why people would be offended by it.
Take these cards away and give the cops a massive pay rise. They are not paid enough to deal with the shit they have to every day.
What’s your estimate of the current average total amount?
I guess I was trying to say that even at twice that it doesn't sound like a good deal to me.
Edit: I guess your comment suggests you think they are paid fairly. Are you cop? Would you consider a career with the NYPD give current compensation?
As for the second part, I regret not getting a job with the NYPD out of high school. If I had, I’d be just about ready to start collecting a six figure pension (I’m in my late 30s).
Also, the grandparent's comment may be true for at least a percentage of the workforce:
https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/03/police-complaints-drop-93-...
But, if you look at workplace injury and sickness, police don’t do well. They have higher incidence of heart disease, higher probability of auto accident injury, and other issues. It’s a tough gig.
That is not to say there aren't honorable and amazing police officera who deal with the worst of society; but our policing force has serious problems beyond even the unbelievably awful militarization and race discrimination.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3971766/#s3atit...
Honestly, NYPD pay is pretty lousy — they hire so many cops because they lose officers after a few years to Suffolk County, Nassau County and the NY State Police, all of which pay significantly better.
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/almost-half-nassa...
"The answer is the state highway patrol -- the men and women that most people interact with only when getting ticketed for speeding. A number of the frames read “CHP 11-99 Foundation,” which is the full name of a charitable organization that supports California Highway Patrol officers and their families in times of crisis. Along with engraved mugs, jackets, and leather wallets, the foundation gives out the license plate frames as tokens of thanks to donors who become “Lifetime Members.” Donors receive one license plate as part of a $2,500 “Classic” level donation, or two as part of a bronze, silver, or gold level donation of $5,000, $10,000, or $25,000."
https://forum.officer.com/forum/local-discussion-groups/u-s-...
These have been a thing for years, are so readily knocked off as to be irrelevant, and make many officers angry.
For a while the 11-99 "get out of jail" idea required you also pass your membership card under the license (like the NY cards listed) but I haven't heard of an officer even considering letting someone off because of 11-99 in a long time (sourced entirely from the other side - spending a lot of time at car meets and on auto forums).
Like, there are plenty of shows about/involving (fictional) police and corruption, looking the other way, giving someone a free pass, etc. but I don't remember ever seeing any where someone used a card like this.
Does anyone know of any? Or is it some sort of open secret that Hollywood has just agreed not to talk about?
Now I have no idea of it's efficacy, but I've bumped into a few folks who swear by it. Like the card it would be good for, at best, a warning on a speeding ticket or another basic moving violating. Of course I've gotten the same treatment by simply being respectful to the ticketing officer, so who knows? As gfodor mentioned[0], there are likely certain dynamics to the situation and I can imagine an officer seeing that as too on-the-chin.
I get that the scene in The Wire had to do with being an informant (IIRC), but it's also important to distinguish that it's not always presented as a ridiculous "Get out of jail free" card.
The scene basically turned into a fight with his more seasoned partner when the new guy refused to accept the "donor" card, he called backup, and the 4 or 5 cops that showed up basically lectured the new guy and apologized to the card carrying criminal. It was a comedy so I didn't think such a card actually existed.
Even if you banned cards (and I'm not sure you could), unions might just shift to making "Police Benevolent Association Family Member" license plate frames - or any other token. I think the most efficient way to solve this might be to have the law fall more lightly on everyone - reducing the benefits to connected citizens relative to the their less fortunate neighbors.
Anyways, have been able to witness their use since, and it’s pretty shocking how easy and effective it is to use. Really disgusting practice.
Perfectly stated. That's precisely what these cards are - a physical token of nepotism and what I refer to as the "blue wall of bullshit". I had a very close friend offer me one of those Gold cards for family members once (his Uncle gave him one and his family is small and thus had extras). I told him to keep it because even if I could use it to get out of a ticket, I'd rather take the fine and keep my morality in tact. Plus, given my belief on these cards, I doubt I could even muster the gall to present one. I mean, honestly, how arrogant does a human being have to be to present that card when stopped by an officer, expecting that the officer is going to basically be like "Aw shucks, guess my hands are tied. Please try not to do that again."
This happens more often than not depending on the nature of the relationship/ticket. Source, my Grandpa was State Patrol, and my Dad carried his business card (I don't think they had official cards back then). I saw him use it twice, and both times it work. However, he has gotten tickets out of state, so it depends on the circumstances.
In the past it was just considered professional courtesy, and only applied to very close family members (wife/son). It wasn't an official thing. You would never have "gifted" it for Christmas to anyone, and sure as hell not to a politician/someone who wasn't family.
"police municipale", which is paid by the city and has got very small rights
"police nationale" and "gendarmerie", which belong to the country, and have got "full rights".
Here, you can't give donations to the force, and I can't event believe the implication of such cards; it seems so "third world". It makes me afraid when municipal police are given more rights (carrying a firearm, …) as they are much more entangled with the mayor, the city, and the local people. The gendarmerie for example all live in barracks and serve a bigger area. I would think that they are less prone to corruption.
if the cards are given after a "donation", the donation is to the labor union representing the police officers, rather than to the force itself. the unions sometimes engage in charitable activities in the area, so there is at least a pretense for making a donation.
the article also talks specifically about NYPD, which while technically a municipal police department, probably shouldn't be seen that way because it's so huge. indeed the mayor of New York describes it as "the seventh largest standing army in the world".
But it is amazing how much official bureaucracy has been placed on a system... designed to give people a loophole out of the bureaucracy.
Not always. Many US department accept donations directly. Often people donate equipment, up to and including cars. The Tulsa shooting in 2015 involved an insurance salesman acting as a "volunteer" police officer. He had donated substantially to the force and was, allegedly, given privileges in recompense. Pay to play imho.
I guess it’s the flip side of civil forfeiture, departments funding themselves like businesses.
(Is this a language difference in "constable" vs. "police" vs. "cop" etc.?)
I was surprised that there were only 10 incidents where police shot their firearms in year ended March 2017 (although multiple officers might use their guns in a single incident). I guess some of the use of firearms is deterrence - a lot of police wandering round waving submachine guns at airports and stations when the terrorism threat is high.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-use-of-fir...
BTW, in recent years there have been a "temporary" general arming of the Norwegian police that have lead to a bunch of incidents (most of them accidental discharges as the issues handgun do not have the typical safety, as they were not intended to be carried on the hip for extended periods) including one where a officer fired a warning shot into the air...
But keep in mind in the UK all weapons are prohibited. Walking down the street waving a baseball bat in a threatening manner is a criminal offence in the UK. Any object that could reasonably be interpreted as a weapon needs a lawful excuse to carry it in public, and a bunch of objects that violent people tend to fixate on are just outright banned, there aren't any excuses permitted for those, you just can't have them in public at all.
Thus having just the _same_ gear as the cop: pepper spray, an extensible baton and some hand cuffs, would get you in trouble here, never mind any sort of firearm.
"Constable" is the legal term used in UK law to refer to police officers and give them special powers or immunities. A Detective Chief Inspector is still a Constable by this meaning, so is a Special Constable (volunteer spare time cop) but a Police Community Support Officer (cheaper fake cops with less training) is not a constable. Outside of statute law, ordinary people don't call them constables.
British pop culture says the equivalent of a "get out of jail free" card would be membership of a Masonic Lodge. Police officers (in particular senior ranks) are supposed to be particularly likely to join the Masons, an esoteric order with a big emphasis on helping other members.
In Australia and NZ, it's important to note that you must register each firearm and you need a reason. That reason can include pest control or sport, but it cannot be self defense.
I think one of the biggest reasons firearms are not registered in the US is because the gun industry and the NRA lobby against it to keep guns flowing into South and Central America. I wrote about this a while back:
http://fightthefuture.org/article/america-and-the-mexican-dr...
Norway similarly makes it relatively easy to own a rifle or shotgun for hunting. But it is that much harder to get a pistol.
Best i recall, you need to have been a member of a target shooting club for some time before even being considered. And even then you are only permitted to transport it to and from the range, not general carry.
The rules are similar to the ones you describe for Norway.
There's also the "Armed Offenders Squad", maybe analogous to a SWAT team, who are armed. Don't know too much about them, you just hear them mentioned on the news when there's a gunman who has shot someone.
The biggest problem with US police is that they've been primed by hypersensationalized entertainment to think of their role as being a domestic-facing military, rather than civil peace officers. The second biggest problem is that they're mostly immune from civil and criminal liability for the damages they themselves inflict.
As an anecdote - I have. It was somewhere in the southwest about 15 years ago.
Probably because no one talks about it.
Corruption is largely a taboo issue in France. Neither government nor independent researchers have conducted any comprehensive and empirically based analyses of the phenomenon in the recent past. In addition, the French government does not report publicly on organised crime, and academic research is very limited. The information available publicly nevertheless provides sufficient evidence that in certain geographic (Corsica, large cities, or South-Eastern France) or economic areas (public utility contracts, energy, real-estate, or defence sectors) corruption is often encountered. At the lower level of organised crime, police (information leaking, or direct involvement in OC activities) and local authorities (regarding public contracts) are most often targeted by criminals. At the higher level, judicial corruption and undue political influence over the criminal justice process occur in relation to financial and corporate crimes. The scale of the corruption problem remains unclear due to lack of data. In Corsica, parliamentary reports indicate that the problem is commensurate with the one in mafia-affected regions of Italy.
https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/do...
Also that gem :
> France: the local researcher preferred to remain anonymous
I don't know about cards like that, however people put stickers of one of the police unions (GDP) on their windshields in hope of getting a better treatment from the police.
However, there are two reasons why this would not work:
1) Police officers can choose to forgive minor infractions, i think everything below a certain fine can be waved. An example would be if you drove a little to risky or something else and don't behave like an idiot to the officer.
2) as soon as you are above these thresholds, it gets very dangerous for cops to let you off the hook. There is a crime called "Strafvereitelung im Amt", basically meaning trying to hide a crime as an officer of the law. it carries a sentence of at least 6 months up to five years and even trying to hide something is punishable. This can also break the career of an officer. So if you, for example, drive drunk and your buddy let's you off the hook, he should damn well be sure that his partner does not talk about it.
There is, of course special treatment for special persons. I remember the mayor of my town, being known as an alcoholic, driving his car at night away from the bar where he boozed it up with his buddies. He never got caught, probably because his license plate was known and the cops were "somewhere else".
This is the part that's unimaginable in the US.
While they may list being active or retired police, or a family member, for eligibility, they also clearly state that any individual or corporate donor can qualify, and that all people who qualify for the plate must be donors. So in reality, being law enforcement or family is irrelevant: You must be a donor to get the plate, and that's all that matters.
Willing to bet you won't get pulled over for minor infractions with any of those plates on your car.
(Of course, if I were a politician that will be a sure way to lose my next election, I guess.)
Would it be? You sure as hell would get my vote.
Source: Had my share of these cards. (Never used one)
2. How much validation of signature is there? Do other police officers memorize each others signatures? That seems unlikely
3. I'm sure it'd be pretty easy to get a list of a large number of police officers for any given locality.
So many entitled corrupt a$$holes in that thread. And they even call people doing their jobs "tools", lol. Totally disconnected from reality.
o m g
In my younger/less scrupulous days when I got pulled over I'd hand over my license, registration, and Army ID. If asked why I included it, I'd pass it off with a "I'm sorry, it must have been stuck to my driver's license". But it seems like every officer has a brother, cousin, or some other close relative who's first infantry. They'd mention it and you say something like "those guys are awesome, I really wish I could have worked with them more" and you'd usually just get a warning.
Nowadays I feel guilty about having done that, and I don't use anything of the kind.
"However, it is equally possible that the enforcement officer’s zeal will not be appreciated, and the enforcement officer will come to work one day to find his locker has been moved to the parking lot and filled with dog excrement."
Call your representatives and demand that police make information such as the number of stops, arrests, and reasons for cause public. You'd be surprised at how much resistance you will encounter when trying to find these numbers.
The gravity of that gesture seems to be altogether lost with the people described in this article.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/PATROLMENS-BENEVOLENT-ASSOCIATION-Y...
The product description says it's obsolete but I don't see any invalidation cut or mark on the badge...seems to be still legit...
Not sure if there is one available for other states...
Here's a picture of it: https://imgur.com/a/0TpcY
Instead of corrupt junk like this, I would much prefer what the US military culture has evolved, recently covered on 99% Invisible[1].
A "get out of jail free" card is ridiculous on its face, but even worse, it's effectively a joke which is extremely sobering if you think about it.
I have a cop in my family and I see what entitled attitudes are adopted by his wife when she is pulled over for her illegally tinted windows and then acts like she is too good to get a ticket because she is "in the club".
Here in Houston, you see people with a stack of "100 Club" stickers on their back windows. A friend of mine who is a deputy for a nearby county said that the bigger the stack, the more likely the driver is an ass and the more likely they are to get a ticket...
I agree with the assessment, but It frustrates me that only 1 of the 3 criteria have anything to do with the statutory law.
The rest has to do with prosecutorial discretion, which is the least objective part of the law and opens up so many people to the "* privilege" criticisms that are so common now.
It never got ticketed because it had “volunteer ambulance service” license plates. Which apparently are a thing you can buy with a large enough donation:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/1fojz9/can_people_with...
Plenty of examples if you search for "fire hose through car"
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/04/10/boston-firefigh...
There are many critics that don't think it's possible. 40% of local city budgets go towards "law enforcement" (the aggregate of police, prosecutors, courts, and jails). Many rural sheriff departments are largely dependent upon speed traps and "Civil Asset Forfeiture" confiscations of people just driving through.
However, I don't consider the "get out of jail free" card as evidence of a pay-to-play. There is no legal mechanism to enforce this, and in fact it's probably illegal for a police officer to enforce it if the crime is sufficiently problematic (there is always a little wiggle room with "prosecutorial discretion").
Additionally, it's likely that any money raised goes towards a "charitable" organization, as opposed to the police department's budget or directly into the pockets of police officers.
Included in your purchase: You get some of the 2018 NYST Benefit Fund Window Decals for your vehicles We issue you a NYST Benefit Fund Wallet Card with assigned security ID code
Ultimately, the funding of police departments through fines needs to stop. This one's on Bill Clinton, who added 100,000 police officers in 1993 by having the U.S. government pick up the tab for two years. After those two years local departments had to find a way to fund the new officers.
Since these are not strictly speaking legal anyway, there probably isn't much recourse.
I could be wrong, but I am reasonably sure that's what those are for.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_immunity
Interesting chart at the bottom btw. Seems that in USA a diplomat or their family can be issued traffic ticket, but can't be detained, prosecuted, or have their residence searched.
If a cop respects another cop's family, that's suddenly corruption? I know; law enforcement is different. But traffic tickets are not quite earth-shaking. They're the flu-shot or will-writing equivalent.
Police face people every day, not very nice people, so we don't have to. Its a great civilizing influence, both for criminals and for folks considering potential vendettas, to know the police will handle it.
But to do their job, officers have to start from a solid foundation. They have to know their families are safe and taken care of, like anybody else. That their community respects them.
It's ethically questionable, of course. But so is writing a will for a friend, or giving free flu shots to the neighbor's kids. Avoiding the expense (and income tax!) and all that.
I've got way better, more important things to worry about than what's at heart, a personal matter for law enforcement officers.
How are those things ethically questionable?
OTOH, the intent of the PBA card is aligned with the putative ethical wrong: you show the card deliberately to avoid paying a fine to the govt and to avoid the deterrent effect of the punishment.
[1]: http://info.legalzoom.com/legal-fees-preparing-tax-deductibl...
[2]: http://www.weeklystandard.com/house-to-consider-tax-on-new-f...
If the lawyer is in some way writing a will that benefits the friend more than the other wills the lawyer writes, or (worse) benefits the lawyer, that's unethical. If the lawyer is writing the will but just not charging, that doesn't seem ethically questionable.
If the doctor is stealing flu shots from the clinic that could have gone to people who couldn't pay for them except via insurance or another program, that is definitely unethical. If the doctor ... happens to have flu shots lying around? does this happen?? ... and has nothing else to do with them, healing people is part of the doctor's mission.
Letting people go after they have committed a misdemeanor is not part of a police officer's mission. It's rather the opposite of it. If a lawyer takes up a client's case, and argues weakly in court because the other side is a friend of the lawyer's, that is absolutely unethical. If a doctor prescribes a medication that the patient doesn't need because a family member works for the pharmaceutical company, that is absolutely unethical. And these things don't happen on a regular basis.
I'm sure that the doctor in your example would love to give flu shots to everyone, or the lawyer would love to make sure everyone has a will - they just don't have the time to write wills for everyone without pay. But the situation with the cop is the opposite: the cop spends less time not pulling someone over. The cop does not have a limited amount of tickets they can overlook; the cop actually has a limited amount of tickets they can write. If the cop wants to give everyone a pass on speeding tickets, that seems great. But they clearly don't - they are saying "I have one set of standards for my friends, and another for everyone else," which is unethical. The doctor and lawyer aren't saying that.
If bartering is involved, then yes, it ought to be reported as taxable, or it's unethical for the reasons you state.
[1] https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employe...
Going to Kinko's or some similar place isn't exactly "industrial scale."
With "get out of jail free cards", the expense is borne by society: blue family members speeding without risk of punishment increases the danger to other people, and at no cost to the officer giving the perk. Equivalently, pretend the offender's fine is just paid out of some public coffer. They're taking money from the city.
If, say, the police officer's union wanted to pay supporters' fines out of their own coffers, I could see an argument that it's not immoral. At least then they'd be incentivized not to hand out so many…
No, its all about the same deal. Ethically anyway.
Further, the cop isn't gaining financially at all.
Where did I say the cop was gaining financially? Why does that even matter?
Now you could say our whole system of taxation is unjust and thus skirting it is unethical. That's fine, but has nothing to do with get-out-of-jail-free cards, since, as you point out, the cop is not gaining financially.
The examples you gave are ultimately poor analogies because not only are the laws potentially broken different (taxation vs. speeding), but the officer is explicitly in a position of enforcing the law, making that scenario a conflict-of-interest.
A better analogy would be a government worker awarding a contract to a friend. Such an act is widely considered unethical, even if the friend charges the same and performs the same as another contract applicant. It's unethical, and a conflict of interest, because the worker is using their position of power for quid-pro-quo (a social benefit for the worker).
Of course, none of the above paragraph is true for a private corporation; it is beholden only to itself and can choose whatever chum it wants for contract work. Likewise, I could see an ethical argument in favor of a cop who pays from their own pocket the tickets of family members. Just not one who flouts his duty as a government officer for quid-pro-quo gains.
Wrong. Police do their jobs out of a sense of duty. They don't do it because it's a popularity contest.
Respect is earned. For those officers that are genuine and honest, their community will see that.
The problem is that when you wear a uniform, you lose lots of your personal characteristics and people see you for the aggregation of everything that other officers do. When thousands of NYC police officers turn their back on the mayor+president during a speech for sticking up for civil rights of the entire country, police officers lose respect from me.
Police families are safer when they don't speed, or at least that's what our laws and our police tell us when we get pulled over. I'd prefer it if police families were kept in line just like those of us on the other side of the "thin blue line".
> It's ethically questionable, of course.
It's an abuse of prosecutorial discretion.
You may want to read up on ethics. "Giving a free flu shot" isn't an ethical dilemma. Giving your neighbor's kids an experimental vaccine without their parents knowledge or consent is.
> I've got way better, more important things to worry about than what's at heart, a personal matter for law enforcement officers.
I'm a tax-paying citizen. When small acts of police corruption are tolerated in my name, that's not insignificant. Small acts, unchecked, give police the feeling that they can get away with larger acts.
And this is coming from a guy with a cop in the family. His wife is already showing signs of questionable ethics. And she uses the same "They have to know their families are safe" argument.
And police do their job because they want to help people. Movie plots aside.
Police families that abuse the privilege, the officer will call the family's officer and mention this. You think the repercussions will be less than a fine? Think again.
I know, police are in the public eye for misdeeds/corruption by some. Some of that is because police are so much 'on display' all the time. We all see them at their duties. They're not sitting in an office. But ethics are ethics, and to pull their chain, but give the rest of us a free pass, is disingenuous.