Last night, the fifteen of the seventeen cops who were indicted in September for ticket-fixing turned themselves in. A sixteenth was arrested earlier that night, along with five civilians in charges related to the sting. It was quite a scene at the precinct, as the Post tells it:
As many as 100 raucous cops turned up at midnight at the Bronx DA’s Office, screaming their support for 15 fellow officers who were scheduled to surrender in the NYPD ticket-fixing scandal. …
The charges awaiting the arrested police — who count one woman, ten union members, and three officers among their numbers — include obstruction, perjury, and bribery: favor-trading on steroids. Ten of the arrested are officers and prominent members of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the police union, which makes the scandal all the more difficult for the NYPD from a PR standpoint. In addition to the more than 300 doctored ticket summonses involved, sources tell the Times that the indictments (which will be unsealed later today) also include taking bribes related to drug dealing, hiding an assault, and leaking classified info — a regular grab bag of misdemeanors.
16 cops in ticket fixing scandal turn themselves in shortly after midnight [NYP]
Authorities Move to Charge 16 Officers After Widespread Ticket-Fixing [NYT]
