Results tagged “benevolentassociation”

And by "you," we mean New York's Finest. Reader Graham tipped us off to a empty storefront at Grand and Crosby that has been wrapped in this Albuquerque Police Department recruiting ad; he sent the picture and said, "It pretty much speaks for itself." Sure does - it tells us there was no empty ad space right across from 1 Police Plaza.

First, some fire fighters' unions spoke out against presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. Now a police officers' union is totally anti-Rudy. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch issued a statement blaming the former mayor for not giving cops raises ("zeroes for heroes" contract) and essentially creating the recruiting/retainment problems the NYPD has. And then there's what the PBA thinks about Giuliani's 9/11 record: Giuliani has wrapped himself firmly in the cloak of 9/11 for his...

Jose Rivera, who shot at a car full of undercover cops, hitting one of them, was sentenced to 16 years in jail. In February, while driving in Park Slope-Prospect Heights, Rivera thought that the cops were giving him a dirty looks and yelled at them, "You got a beef?" and then fired. The police fired back and later, Rivera's police officer wife seemed to try to cover up the shooting by parking their bullet-ridden car far from their home.

The two detectives who were shot during an early morning Bronx shootout yesterday managed to avoid serious injuries and the NYPD says it's a near miracle. Detectives Daniel Rivera and William Gonzalez, along with other three other cops, were trying to serve a warrant to a suspect in a bodega shooting when the suspect fired at them five times. Rivera's forehead was grazed and he left the hospital with only a scar - and smiles. Gonzalez was "nicked in the left shin."

About 14% of new police recruits have dropped out of the latest Police Academy class of over 1,000 recruits, and some are worried that the city's crimefighting programs will be hurt. Notably, "Operation Impact," which Police Commissioner Ray Kelly credit withs helping decrease crime by 25-30% by concentrating cops in those "impact areas" may be without more police officers. Kelly blames the attrition partly on the low starting salary of $25,100.

Yesterday, the three men charged with first-degree murder of police officer Russel Timoshenko all pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn court. However, Dexter Bostick, Robert Ellis, and Lee Woods, who were also charged with a number of other crimes related to the July 9 traffic stop shooting, did not ask for bail. The Post and Daily News had the varying statements the men gave investigators:

Woods, 29, told detectives "I ain't going to jail for something I didn't do. I didn't shoot no cops, I was only driving. Fat boy [Bostic] was in the passenger seat and that faggot Roger [Ellis] was behind me."

Continue reading "Brooklyn Cop Shootings: Guns and Not Guilty Pleas"

One of the saddest images from yesterday were the parents of slain police officer Russel Timoshenko, weeping at Brooklyn criminal court after the arraignment of the three men accused of Timoshenko's murder. The suspects, Dexter Bostic, Robert Ellis, and Lee Woods, were arraigned last week on charges including attempted murder. It is believed that Bostic, firing from the front passenger seat, shot 23-year-old Timoshenko in the face and neck during a July 9 traffic stop (Ellis allegedly fired at police officer Herman Yan; Woods was the driver). Timoshenko had been on life support since the shooting and was declared dead on Saturday.

The Friday night shooting of an unarmed driver in the Bronx has sparked more tension between the NYPD and community. The victim, Fermin Arzu, who was shot by an off-duty police officer in the Longwood section of the Bronx, was an immigrant from the Honduras, and the senior Honduran diplomat, Javier Hernandez, criticized the police in the NY Times: "The police cannot shoot crazily or indiscriminately. Before, there was courtesy, now there is intimidation, and I think it should be the other way around."

Late Friday night, a confrontation between an off-duty police officer and a minivan driver ended with the driver dead. This is what police and witnesses say happened: Fermin Arzu, 41, was driving a Nissan Quest minivan on the wrong side of Longwood Road in the Bronx. The minivan hit a parked Mitsubishi Montero SUV, which then hit another parked car. Off-duty police officer Raphael Lora, who works in the Manhattan transit force and lives on the street, came out of his house and chased the minivan.

The Daily News reports that "scarecrow cars" are being used by the NYPD to deter crime, much to the dismay of the police union. Scarecrow crows are empty radio cars that are stationed on highways in hopes of scaring drivers to straighten up with their driving.

Seven months ago, Ralph "Bucky" Phillips surrendered to police after five months on the run. Fearing that he was about to spend years in prison instead of days, Phillips broke out of the Erie County Correctional Facility and began a life on the lam: breaking into unoccupied trailers to cook himself food, sleeping in piles of leaves to keep warm, and generally keeping a low profile. Bucky Phillips would likely have remained a low-priority target of law enforcement if he hadn't started shooting NY State Troopers. He shot one during a traffic stop and two others once a full-scale manhunt was underway (killing one of the latter).

Have you ever wanted to rub shoulders with Tom Cruise and learn about Scientology's detox treatment for 9/11 workers? Then you'll be excited to learn that the superstar will be in town for an April 19 fund-raiser. The Post reports that while the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project hasn't been approved by the NYPD or FDNY, some swear by it. However, even those involved with the fund-raiser are conflicted.

We love hearing about foiled scams, but this one takes it a step further. A robber tried to force his way into the Queens home of Patrolmen's Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch (pictured).

The Civilian Complaint Review Board says that police cannot seize people's "police union courtesy cards" when people possess them lawfully. The CCRB found that 11 police officers were wrong to confiscate the cards, which many people believe will help them out if they are stopped by the police. "Effectiveness" of the cards aside, the CCRB's suggestion is for the police force to better educate officers about the cards.

Even judges can be judged. And in this case, the verdict is "You're out!" State Supreme Court Justice Laura D. Blackburne was "fired" by the state Court of Appeals, regarding that 2004 incident where she let a robbery suspect evade arrest. The suspect was in Justice Blackburne's court for a different hearing, and a detective was waiting outside to question him; Blackburne knew the detective was waiting outside, but advised that the suspect be taken out a back entrance. Blackburne was suspended from the bench during the investigation, and the Commission on Judicial Conduct had recommended her removal. Blackburned appealed, but yesterday, the court ruled 5-2 that she "transcended the boundaries of acceptable judicial behavior" and the Commission's recommendation stands. Though the robbery charges against Derek Sterling were eventually dropped, the court found problems with Blackburne's action. From Newsday:

Though it was a single instance of misconduct, the high court said Blackburne acted out of "anger and pique" over a mistaken belief that [Detective] Devlin had lied to her about why he had come to court. Though she had chances to rectify her mistake on the spot, Blackburne pressed a court officer to allow Sterling to leave despite concerns by prosecutors it might be an obstruction of justice.

Continue reading "Judges Rule Queens Judge Out"

The defense attorney of one of the men accused of beating up an off-duty police officer says his client will be cleared. Police Officer Eric Hernandez so badly injured when a group of men beat him at a White Castle that he was seemingly unable to hear an on-duty police officer's request for him to lower his gun, only the other officer to shoot him. The Bronx DA released footage of an interview with the three men who were allegedly harrassing a White Castle employee, only for Hernandez to intervene and a fight to start. Edwin Rivera said that Hernandez never identified himself as a police officer, and then showed he had a gun:

“He’s looking around, and he’s eating his french fries, looking around like he’s about to do something. So that’s when I came and I hit him, and then I threw him to the side — and I didn’t think that all my friends was going to jump in and start kicking.”

- Why someone hates the Ten Commandments on YouTube

The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association says that police staffing had dropped 18% in recent years in the area where the Van Alst-21st Street G line stop is located, as the PBA tries to make the case that the subway platform rape could have been avoided. Police presence for the particular Long Island City transit district that serves this stop, plus its backup district, dropped from a total of 404 to 330 police officers on the beat. The issue of subway safety and police presence in the subways becomes a bigger issue as the L train will lose conductors on night and weekend rides, leaving only the engineer, in the coming weeks. The party line from NYC Transit, the division of the MTA that oversees subways and buses, is that customer safety is a primary focus for them. As Gothamist boarded a D train at Columbus Circle last night, the train car was completely empty except for a kind of crazy looking person - three mile stare and the whole nine yards... so when we hear about things like a fine for walking between subway cars or even locking subway cars, we get worried.

Two days after Fernando Ferrer said, in front of the Sergeants' Benevolent Association, that he didn't think Amadou Diallo's death was a crime, simply a tragedy, politicians and even Diallo's mother have been weighing in. This is a big deal for mayoral hopeful Ferrer because these words seem to be a a change from 1999, when he protested outside Police Headquarters. Diallo's mother, Kadiatou Diallo, has told the media that she's "very hurt" by Ferrer's remarks, given his past support. Some political consultants say Ferrer didn't shoot himself in the foot but, as Hank Sheinkopf put it, "What voters don't like is inconsistency, and his inconsistency is going to hurt him." Though Ferrer is claiming he has been consistent, Steinkopf added that C. Virginia Fields "should send him flowers."