The Little Cards That Tell Police 'Let's Forget This Ever Happened'

[Nevilledog]

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v7gxa4/pba-card-police-courtesy-cards

Mike, a white man in his 50s, was in a bad spot: He was stuck idling in traffic on New York City’s Riverside Drive, running late for a meeting, and needed to get to the Upper East Side pronto. Hopping on the shoulder to bypass the other cars wasn’t the right thing to do, he told VICE, but he’d seen other people get away with it before.

Mike, whose name has been changed to protect his privacy, said he knew it was risky—especially because the borrowed car he was driving didn’t have a license plate, let alone a registration under his name. He decided to roll the dice anyway. Right away, bad news: a traffic checkpoint, and cops pulling people over.

“That was probably the tightest spot I could've been in,” Mike said. “Because [the offense] could've been ‘driving without a plate,’ ‘driving with no registration...’" By driving on the shoulder, too, Mike was driving illegally in at least three different ways.

Despite that, he felt confident as the cop approached his car and told him to roll down his window. Instead of pulling out his driver’s license, Mike simply introduced himself and produced something better. “I just basically happened to have one of their PBA cards on me,” he said, referring to the small, plastic "courtesy" cards issued by the Police Benevolent Association, which usually have an officer’s name, phone number, and signature on the back.

*snip*

[maxsolomon]

1. WTAF

cops ought to hand them to young black men.

[COLGATE4]

4. Brother of a classmate of mine was a NY State Trooper

Back in the day when our licenses were a bifold piece of heavy paper he stopped a guy for speeding. Asked him for his license, which he promptly produced. In the fold of the license was a $100 bill.

The Trooper picked it out and asked the driver "Is this yours?", to which the driver replied "No, it's YOURS".

The Trooper then let it flutter to the ground, where the wind caught it and blew it further down the Freeway. "Nope. Not mine", replied the Trooper as he started making out the ticket.

[genxlib]

2. So...

Cops take their bribes on retainer.

Got it.

[safeinOhio]

3. Professional courtesy.

Term used by the gang members.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. This system cannot be reformed and must be abolished.

[Deb]

6. He was lucky. My son would have loaded his ass with tickets.

Those cards and stickers don't mean much upstate. In fact, they're insulting

to many law enforcement.

I carry a miniature replica of his badge for emergency contact and body

identification.

[MurrayDelph]

7. Step One to police reform

Immediately break up and certify any police union that calls itself
"Benevolent,"
"Fraternal," or
"Protective."

If a police department wants to unionize for wages, work conditions, or job safety, that's one thing. If they are unionize for impunity, they need to be RICOed.

[VWolf]

8. Here in NJ

those PBA cards are ubiquitous, and tantamount to legalized bribery

[abqtommy]

9. I saw an episode of Dragnet that used "the card" setup as a scam that was busted by

Sgt. Friday. So it's a real dead after all!