Gothamist: Police Courtesy Cards Debate

George

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 13:23:27 -0500

Dear Mike Jones: The cards are not the property of the PBA once they are SOLD to individual officers, who GIVE THEM AWAY to others. Writing "this card belongs to the PBA" on the cards does not change that.

Mike Jones

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:03:42 -0500

If the cards say they are the property of the PBA on them, I can't see how the CCRB can find that an officer acted wrong if he took it from someone. It's not theirs to start with the officer is a member of the PBA and CAN take it.

glennQ

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:50:29 -0500

PBA cards may get you out of minor infractions like a seatbelt ticket... But they are most effective as proof that you have friends or family "on the job." THAT is what helps!

Dave H.

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:48:53 -0500

I have a friend who used one of these by putting it on the dash of the rental van we were using to move into her apartment next door to the Police Academy in Manhattan. Yes it was a no-parking zone and yes we were parked in front of a hydrant for about three hours. Did the PBA card prevent us from getting a ticket? Probably. Previous commentors correctly noted that these things are all about courtesy. It's not going to get you out of any egregious breach of the law and the issuing officer does have to sign the back, so they are somewhat accountable for who they're giving them out to. Given cops' wide discretionary powers of enforcement, a PBA card is merely an indicator that someone MAY deserve the benefit of the doubt in any given situation. That may be a little crony-ist, but the possibility of abuse is pretty weak.

JoeM

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:06:00 -0500

These cards are not "get out of jail free" cards. If you are pulled over for a DUI, no card, badge, etc is going to get you off. What they are used for is to identify yourself to an officer as someone who should be extended an "upmost" amount of respect, usually because you are the relative/close friend of a cop or someone who has proven themselves to be "friendly" to the police dept (i.e. building some sort of relationship over a long period of time, like letting them use your bathroom when you could choose not to, or being friendly by offering coffee/food (but not in a situation where an officer should pay, like a cashier at Starbucks... that would be bribing/stealing). Every officer has a certain amount of discretion that they can use when dealing with you. Showing the card often helps them to be more lenient than they might be otherwise. A speeding ticket might turn into a warning or a public intox ticket might turn into a "go home." If you show a PBA card and act like a jerk, it won't do you much good. And if you're involved in a dispute with another party (like an assault or theft), it won't help much either. Officers will often take a card because they don't want the person using it to think they have a 'free pass' in breaking the law. If your husband is a cop, he'll just give it back to you or get you another one. If you're under the "other" category that happened to come across one as a favor, well, you've cashed in your favor and are now even with whomever gave you the card. And if you're a cousin of an officer and act like a jerk and try to hand it over after 12 beers while driving the wrong way down the street, well, you'll go to jail and your police officer relative will get a nasty phone call.

billy r.

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:05:13 -0500

It's a COURTESY card. As long as you're not a jerk who expects a free pass because you have one, most (not all) of the time, you'll get by with a warning. They trick is to be subtle with it and not pulling it out and presenting it like your blockbuster card.

confiscated

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 10:17:36 -0500

At least in New Jersey, where I've known a number of people to have PBA cards, the whole point is that you display it (keep it in your wallet so that it's visible when you pull your license out), the cop takes it (you don't offer it), and s/he keeps it (they've done you a courtesy by taking the card instead of giving you a ticket). After taking the PBA card, it's often returned to the officer who gave it to you, so that the officer can choose how to deal with you (whether or not to give it back to you, whether to give you a warning on your behavior).

fishtale

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:57:52 -0500

whoever complains about having these cards confiscated is an idiot. that is the whole entire point!! the card itself doesn't mean anything, it isn't your ymca or library card

Reg!

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:40:08 -0500

My friend had a bunch of these because he was cool with some cops when he worked in the Bronx. One time we got pulled off a line for stupidly brown bagging it on a long line for a concert. He got our id's, said he was going to give us a ticket, and he pulled it out, cops let us go. I was in the car with him in Long Island and we got pulled over for speeding, same thing (although, from what he says it tends to work great in Long Island out of some wierd cop respect thing, in NYC it's a crapshoot for very minor offenses).

super duper

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:36:18 -0500

HA! We here in NJ don't give any of you ny cops any special treatment. We see how many of you are dicks. guess what? Our friends in CT don't get you any special treatment, too. We'll jam you.

Bob Loblaw

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:16:11 -0500

These cards do very little to help anyone out of any situation. If you're pulled over for speeding, the best you may get is the officer will scan you license and see you're not a convicted felon or better yet, s/he'll see that you have a good driving record. I have a Federal "PBA" card and this also does not fare well in the market of "illegal" screwups. If you're a cop or federal officer, then and only then will a (real) badge help you out... besides, most of the people with these PBA cards are people who are always in trouble. They think it's a "get out of jail free" card. It's not.

sean

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 08:38:51 -0500

proofread