Rick, Who's policing the police: Blog Describes A Rogue Cop
Brooklyn officer under investigation
By Sean Gardiner
STAFF WRITER
December 23, 2003
A Brooklyn cop is being investigated over Internet postings that brag about beating suspects, writing phony tickets and ignoring calls to his precinct.
The officer, identified by Internal Affairs investigators as a patrol cop who works in the 75th Precinct, purportedly uses the pseudonym Brooklynbacon and posts his messages on a site accessible through Xanga.com.
Alongside pictures of motorcycle trick riders, naked women, photographs with comical captions and pictures of human oddities, Brooklynbacon posts messages supposedly about his job and, in some instances, his own misconduct. Any one of the offenses he describes could cost an officer his job.
In railing against an unspoken traffic ticket quota he says officers must meet - 10 tickets per week, he contends - he writes: "The new commanding officer of the precinct is pressuring us to write more and more tickets. We were officially told NOT to write anymore tickets for headlights and taillights. Most people fix the problem within 24 hours and the ticket would be admonished [sic] therefore the City of New York makes no money in the end.
"So I have come up with a better way of writing tickets. I just write down the plates of the cars that cut me off the the [sic] parkways and I send them a bogus parking ticket in the mail. The person will then have to deal with the Parking Violations Bureau and not me. Problem quickly resolved. So, in other words, be careful who you cut off on the road. They might be an off-duty cop and they could write your plates down and write you a $150 parking ticket. Have a nice day."
A police source said Internal Affairs investigators are reviewing all tickets written by the suspected officer. Brooklynbacon answered an e-mail but did not respond to a request for an interview. According to a message posted yesterday, he's still on patrol.
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