Did you know that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has its own mascot? Named Pipo-kun, he was created in 1987 to encourage friendlier relations between citizens and the police department. His name is pronounced “Pee-Po”, taken from “PEople” and “POlice”, and he sometimes looks a little like Mighty Mouse. He shows up at any Tokyo police event, has some brother and sister mascots, and even has his own theme song! So it got us thinking: why doesn't the NYPD have a mascot? more ›

The NYPD is trying to end the days of Det. Elliot Stabler losing his cool on the witness stand: the Police Department has created a handbook for cops with tips on testifying at trials...because it seems there are still a few cops out there who need to be told, "Do not concoct answers or explanations - just state that you do not know." The NYPD is responding to several recent cases where cops were caught blatantly lying on the stand; the DAs have even provided staff to act as prosecutors and defense lawyers in order to grill the cops in mock trials, teaching them to avoid "testilying." Let's take a look at some more of their advice: 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 ›

The cop shot three times in an "ambush" in a South Bronx housing project yesterday wouldn't have survived if he wasn't wearing a bullet-resistant vest at the time. Officer Robert Salerno, 25, was hit twice in the lower torso, but his Kevlar armor protected him from a shot to the chest fired by a 57-year-old who was furious that a home health aide had turned down his romantic advances. more ›

A Bronx cop claims a superior punched him for refusing to write bogus summonses. "I'm not going to give the bread deliveryman a ticket before going into the deli and telling him," said Officer Anthony Minoia, 46, who is planning on filing suit against the city for the violent incident. "I didn't forget what it was like to be a civilian before I got a badge." more ›

Police found the stolen Greyhound bus that disappeared from a Manhattan maintenance facility last weekend—but the discovery of the 45-foot coach only raised more questions. "Who would want to steal a Greyhound?" asked Jose Martinez, 42, who works in East Elmhurst, Queens, where the vehicle was found. "It's not like you can sell it or hide easily." more ›

Police stopped and questioned more New Yorkers last year than ever before, and 87 percent of those stopped were black or Latino. The NYPD used the controversial policing technique to question 575,304 people in 2009—an uptick of 8 percent from the short-lived 2008 record of 531,159, according to the Daily News. more ›

A Brooklyn jury awarded a woman who was groped by a police officer when she was 17 a total of $915,000. The panel ruled that the city must pay $750,000, while former Officer Andrew Johnson—who purportedly barged into Ronessa Hollingsworth's residence, flashed a gun, and forced himself her—must pay $165,000. more ›

A day after a Brooklyn cop accused police officers in Bedford Stuyvesant's 81st Precinct of under-reporting crimes and turning away victims in an effort to improve crime statistics, a Queens politician says he's heard the same allegations from other officers—but they won't testify for fear of retribution. more ›

A Brooklyn woman who claims a police officer forced his way into her home and molested her testified yesterday that the cop said: "It's okay. You're 17 now. You're legal." Ronessa Hollingsworth says she was late to school when Officer Andrew Johnson ordered her to get into his squad car on Jan. 18, 2006. The cop then questioned her and demanded her cellphone number before driving her home. A few hours later, Johnson reportedly called Hollingsworth, showed up at her residence, and pushed his way in when the teen opened the door. more ›

A Brooklyn cop has accused the NYPD of under-reporting and refusing to investigate crimes in order to keep crime statistics down. Officer Adrian Schoolcraft alleges that cops in the Bedford-Stuyvesant's 81st Precinct have deliberately recorded felonies as misdemeanors and turned some victims away so crime rates at Ralph Avenue stationhouse appear lower. "I wanted to become a police officer, chase the bad guys, and I thought the NYPD was the best police department in the world," said the Texas native, who joined the NYPD in 2002 because he wanted to serve after the Sept. 11 attacks. "I never thought it would turn out like this." more ›

The 144,160 parking placards registered in the city inventory have been reduced by over 25,000, Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler announced yesterday. The cutbacks are targeted at what many frustrated drivers see as an abuse of a system that lets police, teachers and civil servants park for free at meters and many off-limits areas. Initial cuts have focused on the 80,770 placards issued to 68 city agencies, exempting the 63,390 placards used by the Education Department. more ›

Turns out the number parking placards sloshing around New York is over 142,000, twice the number guesstimated by Mayor Bloomberg’s office when he announced a 20% cutback on the placards, which allow police, teachers and civil servants to park for free at meters and many off-limits areas. The new total does not take into consideration the number of counterfeit and expired placards, and the city is still not done counting, so this preliminary total is expected to increase even as they try to decrease it! more ›

At the 1968 Democratic Convention, anti-war activists were denied permits to demonstrate by the city and spent most of the week getting their skulls cracked courtesy of the Chicago Police Department, witnessed by a television audience of over 50 million. A year later, eight of the most high profile radicals – guys like Abbie Hoffman and the Black Panthers' Bobby Seale – were tried on charges of conspiracy and inciting riots. The courtroom was a circus, with Seale gagged to silence his outbursts and ultimately sentenced to four years for contempt, while testimony from counterculture icons such as Phil Ochs, Arlo Guthrie, Norman Mailer and Timothy Leary drew massive crowds for the National Guard to disperse. more ›

The League of American Bicyclists has awarded New York City a bronze medal for bicycle friendliness. League representatives met with Mayor Bloomberg and DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, who sometimes cycles to work, at City Hall yesterday to present the award. Though bronze is the lowest rung on the friendliness ladder, New York City is the only community in the region to be designated a Bike Friendly Community (BFC). more ›

Photograph of Mayor Bloomberg speaking at the State of the City address by Mary Altaffer/AP more ›

Mayor Bloomberg has announced that the city will crackdown on the abuse of parking permits issued to civil servants, reducing the overall number by 20%. The change comes after the Post revealed in November that “149 separate government entities had qualified for the coveted placards last year, ranging from the state lottery to the US Navy recruiting office, which was allocated an astonishing 110 permits.” more ›

Tim Russert has invited all the presidential candidates to appear on Meet the Press, and yesterday former Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared. We imagine many New Yorkers watching the program gnashed their teeth and/or swore at the TV (we happened to do both), as Giuliani tried to answer questions ranging from the straightforward (Giuliani's Iowa poll numbers, Russert asked, "Fifth place, is that a problem?") to the interesting (Russert on Giuliani's consulting business: "A Las... more ›

We take this to be definitive proof that the video of a group of teen girls beating a man on an A train was not staged: The victim has emerged. Rafael Cruz, a 27-year-old Brooklyn resident who is a manager at a Midtown H&M, told the Post, "I'm trying to get over it. It happened a month ago." Cruz isn't sure if he will press charges, noting, "Teenagers are allowed to make mistakes, but... more ›

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. more ›

The New York Times examines the practice of handcuffing prisoners who have been shot by the police, just a few days after the death of Khiel Coppin. The mentally disturbed Brooklyn 18-year-old was handcuffed by cops after they shot him ten times, thinking he was armed with a gun. It turns out, Coppin was armed only with a hairbrush. According to the Times, the practice of handcuffing someone who is already prone and wounded is... more ›

Hoboken disbanded its SWAT team this week after another scandal rocked the police department of the tiny New Jersey town across the river. A number of minority officers recently filed a lawsuit accusing a high-ranking co-worker of behaving like a white supremacist, regularly deriding minorities. Now the SWAT team has been disbanded days after photos became public showing the unit's commander and other cops cavorting with waitresses at a Hooters restaurant in Alabama. The Mile... more ›

Hallelujah! Yesterday the judge presiding over the Reverend Billy case dropped the charges that claimed he harassed public officials. The Rev was arrested in June while reciting the First Amendment in Union Square during a Critical Mass ride which coincided with the protest of the proposed MOFTB rules. Turns out the prosecutors didn't meet their deadline to file papers explaining the arrest and its justification. The Reverend's (whose real name is Bill Talen) lawyer, Earl... more ›

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... more ›

What can you say about the Vernon NJ Police Department except that they like Hanna-Barbera? Because they created a "WANTED" poster with Yogi Bear's likeness, after discovering a black bear had stolen a minivan. Well, maybe "stolen" is overreaching, but Patrolman David Dehardt noticed that a Mazda minivan was parked in an odd spot, and when he approached the car, it had the classic signs of bear presence: "mashed window, paw prints, smudge marks on... more ›

a good idea, no matter what side of the law you're on. A 14-year-old boy was throwing eggs at cars in Staten Island when two police officers decided to teach him a lesson. Police sources S.tell the Daily News that Officers Thomas Elliassen and Michael Danese picked up Rayshawn Moreno around 8:30PM, drove him to "a swampy area of the 122nd Precinct" and then "dropped him off wearing only boxer shorts and socks and left." Moreno had to walk to a Burlington Coat Factory, where a security guard called his parents. more ›

Witnesses told police that Carol Gotbaum was "teary" during her flight from New York to Phoenix, according to new documents released by the Phoenix Police Department. Another witness says the mother of three, who was traveling to Tucson for alcohol rehabilitation, may have also ordered an alcoholic drink during the flight. more ›

For better or worse, talk of NYPD detective James Zadroga's death continues to linger. For the past two weeks, the family of Zadroga, who worked hours of rescue and recovery at the pit after the September 11 attacks, and the city's medical examiner's office have been disagreeing about Zadroga's cause of death. Now Mayor Bloomberg has stepped into the fray, discrediting Zadroga's hero status. more ›

investigation by the Hate Crimes Task Force. more ›