Another Black Eye for the Boys in Blue

The hits keep coming for the NYPD. Yesterday, federal prosecutors accused a Brooklyn detective of drug trafficking. The indictment (you can read it here) claims Batista would leak law enforcement information to a cocaine ring that also engaged in violence.

Another cop, Sergeant Henry Conde in internal affairs (!), was indicted for telling Batista that he was being probed. Batista, who worked out of the 90th Precinct in Brooklyn, pleaded "absolutely not guilty" and his lawyer said, "There's absolutely no substance whatsoever."

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "If in fact these accusations prove to be true, it's despicable conduct....Unfortunately the sad reality is that you're always going to have, in that universe of people, some individuals who will violate the public trust." This comes after yesterday's revelation that a detective was charged with prostituting a 13-year-old and the other week's news about three Brooklyn South cops working with drug dealers.