Yesterday afternoon, 20-year veteran NYPD officer Feris Jones was promoted to detective at a ceremony in City Hall for her quick thinking and sharp shooting during a robbery at a Bed-Stuy salon. Jones was off-duty and happened to be getting her hair done when 19-year-old Winston Cox attempted to rob the place, and she calmly and cooly confronted him, shot his revolver out of his hands and shot the handle off the front door, sealing it shut. Bloomberg said at the ceremony, "This is a story that will be told at the Police Department for many years to come." more ›

Feris Jones, the NYPD officer who stopped a salon robber while she was off-duty and getting her hair done on Saturday, is being promoted to detective today. Jones, who in her 20 years in the NYPD had never fired her weapon, confronted 19-year-old Winston Cox as he attempted to rob the Bed-Stuy salon. She identified herself as an officer before he began shooting at her; she returned fire, shooting his revolver out of his hands. She also shot the front door, which locked it. And after that, we assume Jones twirled the revolver around her finger, blew on the barrel, and reminded Cox that the salon ain't big enough for the two of them. more ›

Though any texts involving the vampire romance "Twilight" should probably count as torture, one NYPD detective took his obsession to the level of sexual harassment. Detective Dawn DelValle-Sanchez has accused Bronx Deputy Chief Michael Gabriel of sexual harassment in the form of unwanted comments about her body, touching her inappropriately and sending her "Twilight" themed text messages. more ›

NYPD detectives claim a special Internal Affairs Bureau tow truck team that has been "unfairly" hauling away their unmarked cars left a murder witness stranded outside a courthouse. After the homicide witness—who had been threatened about cooperating with police—finished giving anonymous testimony in court, a detective was supposed to quickly and surreptitiously drive the witness home, said detectives union president Michael Palladino. But that couldn't happen, because the detective's car had been towed. more ›

NYPD detectives claim a police tow truck unit unfairly picks up their unmarked cars while ignoring illegally parked squad cars—a policy the detectives say allows tow truck operators to reach their quotas without shaming the force by hauling away patrol cars. "The department wants us to reduce crime, solve our cases and make arrests, and sometimes that requires us to park illegally," said Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives' Endowment Association. "If the practice continues, escapes and injuries are inevitable." more ›

NYPD detectives are angry that they have to follow the same parking regulations as everyone else. According to the Post, on-duty detectives have had their cars towed by a special NYPD Internal Affairs unit at least 35 times. Detectives union president Michael Palladino is furious about the police unit, which goes after illegally parked police vehicles. "The policy is ridiculous," he said. "It's an absolute waste of the taxpayers' money." NYPD spokesman Paul Browne defended the policy and insisted that no cars were towed while detectives were making arrests. "Parking placards have never authorized police to park in front of hydrants, in bus stops or in cross walks or on sidewalks," he said. What about bike lanes? more ›

All of the 55 NYPD cops charged with drunk driving since 1999 pleaded down to non-felony charges and almost every single one of them remained on the force. Although the NYPD can fire any cop "who causes serious physical injury to another person while operating a motor vehicle and is determined to be unfit for duty due to the consumption of alcohol," a Daily News investigation reveals that officers accused of drunk driving often keep their jobs after pleading guilty to lesser offenses like driving while impaired or disorderly conduct. more ›

In a move opposed by detectives unions but celebrated by those who accuse the NYPD of coercing confessions out of innocent people, the police department will soon begin videotaping interrogations. Supporters of the new policy—which will first be implemented as a pilot program at one high-crime precinct in the Bronx and one high-crime precinct in Brooklyn—say recording interrogations from start to finish will protect people from confessing to crimes they didn't commit. more ›

A Bronx detective has become the newest poster child for crime statistic fraud over allegations that he ignored and attempted to downplay a brutal armed robbery attempt that left a college student with a broken jaw. Tatjana Sevilla, 22, fought off a gun-toting crook who tried to force his way into her family's Castle Hill home, but the perp struck her in the face and fractured her jaw. Despite the severity of her injuries and the fact the culprit was armed, Detective Rene Narvaez allegedly classified the crime as a minor infraction—and refused to look at surveillance footage that could have helped the investigation. more ›

A retired cop who started playing online poker to kill time and distract himself from injuries he suffered on 9/11 just won $1 million when he defeated a professional card-player on a poker game show. After retiring from the NYPD in 2004 with back and leg ailments he incurred during the terrorist attacks, former detective Mike Kosowski, 53, began playing the card game so he wouldn’t be "lethargic." more ›

Yesterday, the AP reported that an off-duty cop was arrested for DWI in Queens—and now there are details. According to charges, the Post reports that veteran detective James O'Connell "was busted...for drunken driving after he smashed into a tollbooth at the Midtown Tunnel in Queens...[He] was allegedly driving home from a holiday party when he smacked into the lane’s gate arm at the toll plaza around 2 a.m." more ›

After a recent drunken driving fatality involving an off-duty NYPD detective, the city detectives union is considering changing the schedule that some say contributes to alcohol abuse. Some 2,000 of the city's 5,500 detectives routinely work two night shifts, then two day shifts, then get two days off. But because the turnover is so short between the end of the night shift at 1 a.m. and the start of the day shift at 8 a.m., most detectives who reside outside the city don't bother going home. Instead, they go out drinking and then sleep at precinct houses. more ›

It comes as no surprise that the off-duty NYPD detective who fatally struck an elderly pedestrian early Friday morning in the Bronx has an alcohol problem. Detective Kevin (Spike) Spellman had a blood alcohol level of 0.21 percent—more than twice the legal limit—almost six hours after the accident. Now it's being reported that this isn't the first time booze has caused problems for Spellman and others. more ›

Let's go to the audiotape digital recording! A Bronx detective was indicted on perjury charges after claiming in court that he never interrogated a teen shooting suspect - only for the teen to reveal he recorded the interrogation. Back in December 2005, 17-year-old Erik Crespo was accused of shooting a man in a High Bridge apartment building. He was arrested and when Detective Christopher Perino interviewed him, he used an MP3 player to record their... more ›

A deal with an undercover operative quickly turned deadly yesterday for a man looking to sell a hand grenade in the Bronx. Federal agents and an NYPD detective were monitoring a conversation being held in a car yesterday between the grenade seller and operative. It was not expected the seller would have the grenade on him at the time, so when he produced it, agents rushed the scene in the interest of public safety. The... more ›

An NYPD detective was arrested in the breaking up of a Bronx drug ring this week. The bust was comprehensive and prosecutors are alleging that officer James Calderon used his inside knowledge of police activities to enable crack and heroin dealers to operate with relative impunity. James Calderon was a 13-year veteran of the force, but is now being accused of acting as an agent for Jorge and Luis Mendoza, Bronx drug dealers who allegedly... more ›