We know from watching cop movies that being a detective means having to deal with a lot of paperwork. On the plus side, this gives cops another thing to humorously grumble about, and creates opportunities for gruff stationhouse banter. (If detectives didn't have paperwork to procrastinate, would they have found the time to assemble a condom-covered tree plant on Danny Glover's desk in Lethal Weapon 2?) But now a group of detectives wants to put an end to this long tradition, and they're meeting with Chief of Detectives Phil Pulaski Wednesday to complain that mounting paperwork is keeping them from fighting crime. more ›

After the Daily News's recent stunt, in which reporters at the tabloid used fake documents to transfer ownership of the Empire State Building to a non-existent company, city prosecutors are calling for an overhaul on how the city register handles property transactions. As the News demonstrated, clerks in the office are not required to verify that the information on deeds and mortgages is correct, and some con artists exploit the loophole to claim ownership of properties, then cash in with illegitimate mortgages before disappearing. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes tells the News today that there ought to be a law giving the register's office the time and power to check transactions before they're recorded. But Sam Miller, a bureaucrat at the city Finance Department, swears these fraudulent transfers "are few and far between." And more importantly, they usually don't end up on the cover the the Daily News. more ›

The Daily News has a clever little cover story today about how the tabloid "stole" the Empire State Building. Inspired by the Brooklyn DA's increasing number of deed fraud prosecutions, reporters decided to try the scam, which involves drawing up fake documents, making a bogus notary stamp and filing paperwork with the city to transfer the deed to the property. Grifters use the fraudulent deed to take out big mortgages, then disappear. more ›