As Abraham Lincoln probably said: your best work is the work that you pretended to do for money. This maxim still rings true today thanks to NYPD officer Paul Pizzuto, who allegedly wrote 36 phony traffic tickets last year so he could claim overtime pay. According to the Post's sources the 17-year veteran would run random license plates for names to use on the tickets, and even used the names of the deceased. Authorities caught on because Pizzuto never sent copies to the DMV or the city's finance department, leaving them in legal limbo at the 120th Precinct. The 40-year-old cop is the third Staten Island officer to be caught writing fake tickets—two other officers were charged with the same crime in February. Pizzuto faces numerous felony charges for his crimes. more ›

If you're one of the NYPD's lucky stop-and-frisk customers this year (183,326 and counting!) the police is giving you a slightly less opaque reason as to why they roughed you up. New forms that officers fill out following a stop include a "Reason for Force Used" field that gives officers the choice of checking a box that describes the situation leading up to the rough stop. The choices are: "suspect reaching for suspected weapon" (like this innocent teenager), "suspect flight," "defense of self," "defense of other," and "overcome resistance." If those don't quite paint a nuanced picture of what happened, there's always the classic "other" box that allows the officer to jot down why you were worth their time. Presumably this is to save room on the form so they don't have to print both "brown" and "black." more ›

Remember those nifty electronic fingerprinting machines that the NYPD debuted in September to fingerprint people on the scene of a crime? Probably not, because the cops usually flash that Men In Black thingy in your face afterwards. But the concern at the time was: what happens to the fingerprints after they're gathered if you're not charged with a crime? more ›

The NYPD released surveillance footage of this morning's explosion near the Army recruiting center in Times Square. The footage shows a bicyclist approaching the building and an explosion taking place after he leaves. more ›

After intense speculation about why the masseuse who discovered Heath Ledger's body last Tuesday called actress Mary-Kate Olsen multiple times, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly spoke to reporters yesterday to clear the air. Kelly said, "We believe that of the three phone calls by the masseuse to Mary-Kate Olsen, only one got through. That call was 99 seconds long." more ›

The Post has fun with a story about a robbery at a Brooklyn grocery, as a man stole a number of salamis and was trying to spirit them out in his clothes. Of course, this earns the headline "WURST-CASE SCENARIO FOR THIEF: COPS." more ›

Overall major felony crime is also down 26% since 2001. Mayor Bloomberg said, "When I came into office, many believed it was impossible to drive crime, particularly murders, down any further. Yet, beginning in 2002, crime declined steadily and murders fell below 600 annually for the first time in 40 years. That happened again in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Now, in 2007, we have reached another milestone, murders could potentially fall below 500 - and that includes a decrease in random murders where victims don't know the perpetrators." In other words, take that, Rudy! more ›

After City Council member Simcha Felder announced he would propose legislation to ban feeding pigeons, bird lovers joined forces and, yesterday, held a rally at City Hall. Armed with posters like "Save Our Right to Feed Wildlife," "Have U Known Anybody Killed by a Pigeon?", "Pigeons are Beautiful Birds," and "Felder's Pigeon Bill is Poop!", the pro-pigeon protesters spoke out for their feathered friends. One demonstrator told City Room, "We are voices for the... more ›

Even thought Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign tries to insist that the story is old news and a hit job, the Rudy-NYPD security detail Travelgate situation keeps getting messier. Why? Because even if one agrees that a security detail for Giuliani while he was visiting his then-mistress (and now current wife) Judi Nathan in the Hamptons is a legitimate use of taxpayer money (even if it was randomly billed to various city agencies - which the... more ›

The family of late Detective Dillon Stewart was joined by Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and other city officials in the dedication of a Prospect Park playground in Stewart's honor. The Parade Ground Playground, at the corner of Caton Avenue and Parade Place, near East 16th, was renamed the Dillon Stewart Playground. Stewart was killed on November 28, 2005, when he and his partner stopped a car for a traffic violation. Someone... more ›

Howard Beach residents are probably shaking their heads over reports of yet another allegedly racially motivated attack in their neighborhood. The police say that a group of white teenagers claims they were attacked by a group, who were made up of Hispanics and blacks. more ›

The early Thursday morning fight in Union Square was apparently set off by a diss. The Post reports that the victims were all affiliated with gangs and the "violence appeared to have stemmed from a show of 'disrespect.'" more ›

The police arrested two white men in the the beating of a black man in Staten Island. The Reverend Al Sharpton appeared with the victim and said, "We cannot live in a city, state or nation where people cannot safely be in the streets or anywhere else because of the color of their skin." more ›

As the NYPD Hate Crimes unit, as well as the FBI and Justice Department, investigates the noose found outside a Columbia professor's office, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly commented about the school's cooperation. Apparently the school only turned over surveillance videos after the NYPD provided a subpoena - three days after the noose was found on Teachers College Professor Madonna Constatine's office door knob. more ›

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is getting a lot of ink in our newspapers today after it was revealed that (A) he had requested a visit to Ground Zero - to lay a wreath, no less - and then shortly later that (B) the city had denied the request. Way to work fast, city agencies! more ›

Today, the Daily News prints a heartbreaking letter from Tatyana and Leonid Timoshenko, the parents of police officer Russel Timoshenko who died after being shot on a July 9 traffic stop in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. The Timoshenkos, who immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus in 1993, thank the Kings County Hospital staff, NYPD, and "all of the people of New York and the entire nation who prayed with us." The News has a PDF of the letter here. more ›

The NYPD has announced that both suspects in the Brooklyn traffic stop shooting of two police officers have been captured. Last night, Dexter Bostic was arrested as he and the other suspect Robert Ellis were walking along Interstate 80 near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. more ›

The police department has launched a citywide dragnet to find suspects who fired at two police officers during a Brooklyn traffic stop early yesterday morning. 23-year-old police officer Russel Timoshenko was shot twice in the head while 26-year-old police officer Herman Yan was shot in the arm and chest. A surveillance video showed that the cops were shot before they had reached the driver and passengers in the car. The Daily News' Michael Daly describes:

Footage from the surveillance camera mounted outside the Little Red Riding Hood preschool shows the green BMW SUV pulling over. more ›

- Last month a structural fire on Staten Island was started by a child playing with fireworks in his bedroom.Mayor Bloomberg said, "In the hands of a trained professional, fireworks can produce some of the most thrilling shows you'll ever see. But in the hands of an amateur, they are very dangerous and illegal," and urges New Yorkers to call 311 to report illegal fireworks. more ›

Yesterday, two cars full of gasoline and nails were found near London's Picadilly Circus. The car bombs were defused, and British authorities determined that the two vehicles were linked, which is apparently an al Qaeda tactic. Had the bombs gone off, the Post reports "security experts said that if the car bombs found yesterday had been ignited, they would have created enormous fireballs, followed by shock waves forming a killing zone at least 400 yards in diameter." more ›

Some more details about the man suspected of raping women in NYC parks. Now police believe he is behind five rapes (yesterday he was linked to four): Two rapes occurred four years ago in Queens parks - a June 2003 rape in Baisley Pond Park and a August 2003 rape in Roy Wilkins Park. This year, police believe the attacker is behind three rapes - one in Prospect Park in April, a June 11 attack at Roy Wilkins Park, and a June 15 rape in Prospect Park. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, 1,097 police cadets graduated from the Police Academy in a ceremony at Madison Square Garden. The Mayor said, "Just a few weeks ago, the FBI reported that violent crime went up in the rest of the nation during 2006, but here in New York violent crime decreased. The NYPD has continued to drive violent crime and property crime down to historic lows this year - and year after year. Today we welcome 1,097 men and women into the ranks of our Police Department to continue the proud tradition of New York's Finest." more ›

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced new recommendations for police procedure; the recommendations were made by a special panel formed after the shooting of Sean Bell, an unarmed Queens man. The police press release (which is mis-dated according to the NY Times' CityRoom blog) reveals that there are nineteen recommendations in total, the most notable one stating that breathalyzer testing will be mandatory for all on and off-duty police officers whose "firearm discharge results in injury or death." more ›

After two days on life support, the 56-year-old bodega owner, who was shot in the face during a robbery attempt, died yesterday morning and police continued their search for the group suspected of robbing a number of bodegas over the past four months. Police Commissioner Kelly said the robbers are "certainly" considered "dangerous," but Cruz's family wonders why the police didn't tell the community about the robberies. more ›

The police continued to look for the robbers who shot a Queens bodega owner in the face on Monday night. Bolivar Cruz, a Dominican immigrant, is still on life support; the Post reports that two of his seven daughters were working in store at the time and that Cruz tried to protect them. According to Police Commissioner Kelly, Cruz did take out a gun (unlicensed) but did not get a chance to fire it. It's unclear whether the robbers saw Cruz's gun. Cruz is not expected to survive. more ›

Truck drivers entering New York will have to be patient: The NYPD is inspecting more of them for bomb materials as authorities step up counter-terrorism efforts, and two days ago, the NYPD ending up stopping 40 of 50 trucks that entered. more ›

The new chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says the NYPD thinks it's the NPD - the National Police Department. The Daily News reports that Democratic Mississippi representative Bennie Thompson is critical of the NYPD's tactics that stretch into other jurisdictions. He told the News, "While I understand that chasing down leads in other locales might help keep the city safe, I emphasized that the NYPD is not the FBI, that it does not have national jurisdiction." more ›

Last night, police officer Rory Mangra (pictured) attempted to approach a man smoking pot in Prospect Heights, but the man ended up shooting him in the leg. Mangra and his partner, Eric Merizelde, both uniformed but driving in an unmarked car, saw Kingsley Newland light up outside a beauty parlor at Flatbush Avenue and Dean Street in Brooklyn. From the Daily News:

Mangra stepped out of the car to approach Newland, but the suspect fled, police said. Merizelde sped ahead in the car, hopped a sidewalk and tried to block the suspect's path. more ›

Police officers from both the regular and auxiliary force attended a second funeral in two days for a slain auxiliary police officer killed during a Greenwich Village rampage. Nineteen-year-old Eugene Marshalik was remembered at a funeral in Brooklyn by friends, family members, fellow cops, and city officials. more ›

There was another attack on cops last night, this time at the Broadway Junction J train station. Police officers were trying to give a summons to a man who was smoking. When they asked his friend Hugo Hernandez for ID, Hernandez slashed police officer Angel Cruz in the face. Cruz and his partner fired at Hernandez multiple times. more ›