Gothamist: "Lucky Bag" Operation So Not Cool

chris

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:15:20 -0500

One poster wrote: the same law provides if you find something in a "transportation facility" you have committed larceny the moment you leave the facility with the item. My comment on this is: I imagine this law was geared towards airports or train stations like Grand Central where someone might leave luggage for moment while they go to a ticket booth or the rest room, not so much towards subway stations which are very transient places, and where unattended items really tend to be lost or abandonded. The sting operation is shameful. It will catch a lot of poor (literally and figuratively) people who wouldn't otherwise commit crimes, but who figure that the stuff in the bag is lost, and so they might as well salvage it, not to mention people who would actually try to return it if they found ID in the bag. You know, what they should do is put $100 bills on the street outside police stations and judges chambers... and see how many of these get returned!

I am NOT a lawyer...yet. I am definitely not YOUR lawyer.

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 15:54:31 -0500

They almost got me with this once, using a Century 21 bag full of shoes (*drool*) at Fulton Street. But it just didn't occur to me to take someone else's shoes (or that they would fit, or even be decent shoes, etc.). When I went to go on the train, someone said "Oh miss you forgot your bag!" and I said "Nope, not mine". If that person offering to me had been a cop, THAT would have been entrapment, I think. I bet it was an undercover cop. Bastards! I looked it up, to clarify my recollections from endless studying for the bar exam. Taking home lost property **IS** a crime in NY if you don't give it to the police within 10 days. In addition, how they are getting people here is b/c the same law provides if you find something in a "transportation facility" you have committed larceny the moment you leave the facility with the item. Regardless of your personal intention to track down the owner, donate to charity, get free new shoes (*drool*) or whatever. The woman they arrested - Calthorpe - should get off because she didn't leave the station with the property so I don't think she can possibly have violated the law this "Operation" is based on. Maybe this cops should be out there helping the people in Queens and preventing real crime.

flood nine one one

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 11:40:17 -0500

We should Flood 911 with reports of suspicious packages then call the media. Sit back and see what happens. Thanks again NYPD for making the good guy the bad guy.

Toby

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 11:17:34 -0500

One reason "all these busts happen at the Columbus Circle station" is because there is a Transit Bureau precinct house there. Now what people should now do when they see a bag left is to go and report it per the "if you see something, say something" campaign since I thought that is what we are supposed to do now when you see an abandoned bag, as it may be something bad. The up side is the first time this happens and the station gets evacuated because of a suspicious package the media would have a field day when they find out it was left by the NYPD.

nick

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 09:13:15 -0500

brightliner: you didn't do it so you could sleep at night, you did it so you could retell the story and make yourself seem like a good person. but about this story. i call bullshit on it. although nyc cops have plenty of free time, i find it very hard to believe that they would waste their time doing something that obvious wont hold up in court and only make the PD look bad. im waiting for a more reliable news source.

anonymass

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 22:22:31 -0500

Gee, more union workers showing their obvious worth and merit to the city of NYC. Nothing new here. Cops, TWU employees, and the worthless ConEd fucks - whom I'm assuming are unionized. The only two groups worthy of any praise whatsoever are the FD and teachers who are making the best of an impossible situation.

Brightliner

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:17:19 -0500

"Reality Check," Some of us like to be able to sleep at night. I'm an agnostic who doesn't believe in an afterlife, yet I did something similar. I was lounging outside an office building on a Saturday when I saw a small family walk into it. A couple of minutes later, I noticed money on the ground outside the entrance. Three crisp, new $50 bills. When they came out, I could have kept my mouth shut and been $150 richer, but I asked them if they were missing any money. They described it perfectly so I returned it. They were grateful since they needed to pay a doctor they'd just visited in the building. Bummer, but at least I can live with myself. Who needs heaven?

law and order dum

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:13:10 -0500

And, you know this how???? you suked a kops kok?

Christy

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:00:02 -0500

The police know that those who commit serious crimes in the subway will also commit lesser offenses of opportunity. So the police "bait" the stations where they are investigating serious offenses. The police first set this trap at the Jamaica Center station, where there had recently been an brutal rape of a deaf woman. The cops understand that their trap will also catch a number of nosey do-gooders, but if the suspect turns up without a record of theft, the DA will never indict. And think about it this way - if the police leave the White female busybody alone while arresting the thuggish looking young black man, they would be guilty of profiling.

REALITY CHECK

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 20:35:26 -0500

lc: If that's a true story, you're going to be really disappointed when you find out there's no such thing as heaven. Shoulda kept the $200.

Jen

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 19:26:32 -0500

lc: If that's a true story, you're an awesome person.

Brightliner

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:49:47 -0500

I hear the next step will be to leave suspicious-looking but harmless packages in the subways. If you report it but accidentally let slip the wrong word in there, like "I'm not sure, but it looks like a bomb," you'll be arrested for making a bomb threat. The new NYPD: Numbskulls, Yukels, Putzes and Dunces.

NYPDwatcher

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:35:18 -0500

As has been said before, where is the oversight??? Has Ray Kelly really screwed things up so badly that an operation like this is deemed 1) legal 'enough' 2) a good idea 3) of even having a remote chance of a successful prosecution. Are NYPD officers really this stupid?? I guess that is a resounding YES.

Interlard

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:12:31 -0500

What, the NYPD acting like a bunch of idiot thugs? THAT NEVER HAPPENS. They do it for free, right? Someone tell me we don't actually put our taxes up to pay these pointless morons? Would someone who can vote please do something? Thanks.

real

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 16:28:43 -0500

I guess the cops have to do something on days when they can't arrest "reckless bicycle parades"

Brightliner

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:35:37 -0500

That was my first thought when I read this piece. The new slogan on the subway is "If you see something, run the hell away!"

timbnyc

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:20:34 -0500

Well, they say ifyou see an unattended bag to report it, right? So report it to the token clerk and watch them empty the station and bring in the bomb squad.

Dan

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:17:27 -0500

You CANNOT 'steal' personal property that has been left abandoned in a public place with no apparent owner in sight. Legally, any 'theft' charge arising from such action is unsustainable in court. This only constitutes harassment AND a waste of valuable police time & resources. What if someone picks up the property in order to take it over to the booth & hand it over to the attendant?. What if someone goes thru the property trying to find any owner contact info to try and return it?. Hell, what if they decide to keep it, after all it WAS abandoned in a public place!. What comes next?. Cops pretending to have heart attacks on the subway platform in order to bust anyone who tries to give them CPR ...FOR PRACTICING MEDICINE WITHOUT A LICENSE?. Unf*ckingbelievable.

columbus circle jerk

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:15:51 -0500

Funny all these busts happen at the Columbus Circle station. I was stopped there, too. Just 2 months ago, I saw a portable DVD player left on a subway bench. I was going to pick it up but a MTA station cleaner saw it and looked around to see if anyone saw him. then he took it. Guess from now on if I see a wallet or cell phone, I'll make believe I tripped on a crack and kick it onto the tracks. Thanks a lot NYPD for making good guys the bad guys.

lc

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:13:21 -0500

Some time ago I picked up $200 cash from the floor near the entrance of a bank. I brought it to one of the bank employees and told her that someone must have dropped it. She gave me a receipt and told me that if after 3 months no one claims it, the money belongs to me. Three months later, the money was still unclaimed. I received the $200 which I donated to charity.

cruelite

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:04:08 -0500

i had a dream that i somehow ended with a bag that had an ipod and some other high tech stuff in it like a portable dvd player or something. i had it in my house, and i was thinking, i didn't steal this, but if i have it here, it is stealing, so i should take it back to the store. i was thinking it would bring me bad luck because i didn't pay for the stuff. now i know what the dream is about. one brilliant idea for the nypd is to put naked hot women in the subways, and see if anyone will sexually harass them or proposition them for sex. that way you can catch the male perverts. and then you could do the same thing for 14 15 year old boys and girls to catch the pedophiles. the whole justice system should be centered around the genius of nypd.

Dan

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:59:21 -0500

This would be entrapment if the person was coerced by police into committing a crime, which they would otherwise not have committed if the police didn't entice them. Since picking up an abandoned package isn't a crime, this doesn't qualify as entrapment or an arrestable offence in the first place. I usually give a lot of leeway to the police, but this is just stupid. It will be tossed out in court and the police will have wasted both their time and the person accused of the crime. Unfortunately, most police office don’t have a full understanding of the law beyond ‘stealing is bad’. Their intentions are usually good, but their execution is lacking.

kwanito

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:56:20 -0500

How far away from MTA employees are these sting operations? They should put it within range of the burgundy-vested, we can kill 2 birds with one stone. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Dave H.

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:52:14 -0500

I've brought bags with no apparent owner nearby up to the token booth. Someone did that for me once after I stupidly left my bag on a platform when my hands were full. So the NYPD is making good samaritanism against the law? And what exactly is the charge supposed to be? How can you steal something that isn't in anyone's possession?

Joe

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:29:57 -0500

Is the bag just sitting there on the platform with no apparent owner? How can picking up an ownerless bag be considered theft?

Papercutninja

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:23:18 -0500

I'm a big supporter of cops, but this is freakin retarded. Entrapment is the least of it.

Dirk

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:18:38 -0500

The NYPD really have nothing better to do with their time than set traps? Operation Douche Bag is more like it.

jayKayEss

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:48:47 -0500

NYPD: "To Seize and Entrap"

tricker

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:47:43 -0500

i find ID's & Credit Cards all the time on the ground in midtown. i usually drop them in the nearest mailbox (my wife once received her lost driver's license in the mail this way). i don't think i will pick up anything anymore now after reading this story.

bob ross

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:46:26 -0500

Holy smokes! A couple weeks back I was in the uptown 8th street N/R/W station (well, technically, I guess, the N don't stop there no more, but that's neither here nor there) and there was a Verizon bag with an ipod box in it lying on the bench unattended. I'm glad I didn't pick it up.

Jen

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:42:54 -0500

This is lame as shit. There must be a more efficient way to catch thieves other than setting bullshit traps (try patrolling and investigative work rather than "luck"). I could totally see myself becoming their victim the same way.

decafisevil

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:40:46 -0500

The owner of lost propery always has first dibs, but it's true "finders keepers" applies to abandoned property. Plus, you can use the defense of entrapment if you're not predisposed to the crime (which basically means if you haven't been busted for the same "crime" before). Ain't it grand that the NYPD is actively trying to make us even more nasty and withdrawn to strangers?

Gadget

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:34:36 -0500

What about the concept of abandonment? The old addage losers weepers... You cannot "steal" something that was abandoned. Everyone of those arrests should be tossed out and appear very pretextual.

S.D.

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:33:31 -0500

... Great Policework, You'd think they'd follow her for a bit...

zack

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:29:45 -0500

lol the nypd is leaving suspicious pacakges on subway platforms now...