A two-year investigation into ticket fixing, where cops agree to make tickets disappear in exchange for bribes, gifts and favors, is expected to result in the indictment of 17 NYPD cops.

The New York Daily News reports that some of the violations include a delegate who fixed a speeding ticket for a Yankees honcho in exchange for perks at the stadium, and a union delegate who had his friends in the department make records of him pointing his service revolver at his wife during an argument vanish. Other cops are to be accused of profiting off drug-sale proceeds, as well as the more garden variety fixing traffic violations and getting bribes and free meals in return.

While it’s no “Serpico,” ticket-fixing is a drain on the morale and integrity of law-enforcement. It’s sort of the “broken window theory” of government. If people see others and themselves getting away with corruption on a small scale, they’re more likely to tolerate and try bigger kinds of corruption.

NYPD ticket-fixing scandal: Bronx DA seek indictments for 17 cops [NY Daily News]
Big Inquiry Into Ticket-Fixing in New York [NYT]

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