NY Wiki

THAT'S THE TICKET

Card-carrying benefits
Call it a PR tool or a get-out-of-jail-free card: Each year, local PBAs hand out
stacks to the well-connected

BY J. JIONI PALMER, STAFF WRITER

2004 May 04

Each year, police union officials in New York City and in Suffolk and Nassau
counties dole out small plastic cards to political party leaders and other politically
connected VIPs, often with their job titles printed on them.

In Suffolk, for instance, county Democratic Chairman Richard Schaffer gets
stacks of the cards from the Police Benevolent Association. So do Republican
Party Chairwoman Patricia Acampora and Independence Party chief Frank
McKay.

Local police unions have varying explanations of the purpose of the cards. The
PBA chief in Nassau views them merely as "public relations" tools benefiting the
officeholders who pass them out, while the union in New York City encourages
officers to avoid ticketing cardholders. But Schaffer said as far as he knows the
cards have only one purpose: to inoculate the holders against traffic tickets.

"It's one of those unspoken understandings," said Schaffer, who said he doesn't
carry a card and paid a $75 fine last year after receiving a ticket for running a
red light. "I think that the history has been that if you show it to the police officer
then they would give you the courtesy of not writing a ticket - that's my
interpretation."

While Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said he is confident his
officers will issue tickets when the situation warrants, he said it is likely that
having the card gives the bearer a better chance of avoiding a ticket. "I'm not
going to say that's not possible or it doesn't happen, it probably does," he said.

Al O'Leary, communications director for the New York City PBA, said the union
urges members to honor the card and not ticket carriers as long as they are not
a danger to others.

"This union encourages its members not to write a ticket over a card," O'Leary
said.

But Monroe Freedman, a distinguished professor of legal ethics at Hofstra
University, described the cards as "a serious abuse of official power."

"It gives special privileges to certain people that others are not going to receive
and that's wrong," Freedman said.

According to interviews with several current and retired police officers in Nassau
and Suffolk, police unions pass out thousands of cards each year - to county
legislators, city council members, police officers' relatives, attorneys and
members of the news media.

There's even a brief drill that holders of PBA cards are instructed to follow when
they are stopped: Hand over the card along with your driver's license, and
casually mention the name of the person who issued you the card, according to
the officers.

Several Newsday staffers have the cards, though the paper's conflict of interest
policy prohibits newsroom employees from "using their position for preferential
treatment or personal gain," said Howard Schneider, Newsday's editor. Merely
accepting a card violates that policy and Schneider said those who have them will
be asked to discard them or return them.

"Being a reporter or photographer is a public trust and we take that seriously,"
Schneider said.

Catherine Mathis, a spokeswoman for The New York Times, said the paper
expects staff members to pay for the ticket if police stop them.

"Reporters ought not be seeking privilege with any institution they cover," she
said.

A spokesman for the New York Post would only say the paper "is given a number
of these cards and they are given to reporters for use in the course of their
work."

A spokesman for the New York Sun did not respond to requests for comment,
and one for the Daily News could not be reached.

Officials of the Suffolk Police Benevolent Association, Suffolk Superior Officers
Association and the Detectives Association did not return calls for comment.

McKay, who serves as both the state and Suffolk Independence leader, said he's
flattered by the PBA's "gesture" and freely doles out his stack of cards to "worthy
people" who will probably never use them.

"I gave some to a pastor and a deacon in a church," he said. "I think it is a show
of respect for people who are active in the community."

Acampora, in contrast, said she does not use or give out the cards.

Suffolk PBA President Jeff Frayler has said in the past that it is union policy to
discourage Suffolk police officers from issuing traffic tickets to fellow officers,
regardless of jurisdiction, and their relatives, out of professional courtesy.

Nassau PBA president Gary DelaRaba said his union has issued PBA cards
continuously since 1928. He said he wasn't sure how many cards were printed
each year or how many different titles they carry.

He said the cards are "a public relations tool" for people to show off. But in no
way are they "get-out-of-jail-free" cards.

"Anybody who has one of mine I expect to follow the law," DelaRaba said. "If you
have a card signed by me, you can identify yourself as a friend of mine if you
run out of gas or get in an accident. But don't think you're going to use that card
to get yourself out of any crimes."

Suffolk Legis. Michael Caracciolo (R-Baiting Hollow), a retired Nassau County
police officer and former union official, said he was surprised at the proliferating
number of PBA cards for privileged people.

Caracciolo said he didn't give drivers bearing PBA cards any special breaks when
he was a patrolman and doubts officers in Suffolk do now.

"In Suffolk, it is not a given - they are very strident in their enforcement of the
law," he said.

Dormer issued a memo reiterating the department's policy of equal enforcement
of traffic laws after a Newsday story last month about the PBA's hands-off stance
toward ticketing police officers or their relatives. Dormer told a graduating class
of new police officers last month that applying the law equally and fairly is the
essence of policing.

"This is what gives you the moral authority on the streets, when you deal with
citizens so you can get respect," he told the 158 rookie cops at their
commencement ceremony at the police academy in Brentwood.

"If anybody, whether inside or outside the police department, tells you not to
enforce certain laws or to give an exemption to certain groups of people, they
are wrong," Dormer said.

Persuasive plastic

Police union cards, which some drivers attempt to use for leniency during traffic
stops, typically are given to officers' family members. Special versions also are
made for the politically connected; these have the recipient's title printed on the
plastic. A sampling of some cards, with the issuer and the

recipient:

Suffolk Police Benevolent Association (For state Independence Party chairman)

Suffolk Police Benevolent Association County (For Democratic Committee chair)

Nassau Superior Of.cers Association (For unspecified recipient)

Nassau Police Benevolent Association (For county legislator)

New York City Patrolmen's Benevolent Association (For attorney)

NOTE: Nassau Police Benevolent Association, Suffolk Detectives Association and
Suffolk Superior Officers Association also issue cards.

Traffic-stop etiquette

Office holders and others may receive stacks of cards, which they hand out at
their discretion. Experts then advise the individual bearer to heed the following
guidelines, though there are no guarantees of leniency.

Sign on back of card exactly as name appears on driver's license. Name of the
person who issued the card also should be written.

After being pulled over, politely acknowledge the violation.

Hand the card to the officer with your driver's license, casually mentioning the
name of the person who handed out the card.

- J. Jioni Palmer