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New York City on Tuesday reached a $175,000 settlement with a Staten Island police officer who said he had been a victim of retaliation for giving traffic tickets to people with connections to the upper echelons of the Police Department.

The officer, Mathew Bianchi, filed a lawsuit against the city last May. The suit said that he had been transferred out of his precinct’s traffic unit after Jeffrey Maddrey, then the chief of patrol and now the department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, asked that he be punished. Officer Bianchi had issued a ticket to a woman with whom Chief Maddrey was said to be friends, according to the suit.

“This settlement is a vindication for our client, allowing him to close this chapter and continue his service with the N.Y.P.D.,” John Scola, Officer Bianchi’s lawyer, said on Tuesday. “We hope that Officer Bianchi’s courage and this decisive outcome will inspire other officers to come forward as whistle-blowers.”

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
    98·
    2 days ago

    Officer Bianchi, who joined the force in 2015, said in his lawsuit and in subsequent interviews that the standard practice in his precinct, the 123rd on Staten Island, was to avoid ticketing drivers who had cards issued by police unions — known as courtesy cards — which officers distribute to their friends and family. His troubles in the department, he said, stemmed from his willingness to issue tickets to cardholders.

    Naked corruption.

    The settlement did not involve any admission of wrongdoing from the city, which in court papers denied most of Officer Bianchi’s allegations, including those about Chief Maddrey’s role in his transfer.

    No lessons learned. At taxpayers’ expense.

    • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
      37·
      2 days ago

      His troubles in the department, he said, stemmed from his willingness to issue tickets to cardholders.

      And this is why ACAB. If there is a cop applying the law equally to everyone they get punished and pushed out.

      Sure, he won his lawsuit, but I’m betting he’s still not going to be a cop anymore. And the people involved aren’t going to be punished or penalized, they got exactly what they wanted.

    • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      16·
      2 days ago

      Let me ask the obvious question: how easy were the cards to duplicate?

      Because all it takes is just send them to everyone that lives in the precinct.