NYPD cops are writing fewer and fewer tickets for moving violations as an unofficial summons-writing slowdown picks up steam.
Summonses for moving violations were down about 22.9% across the city for the 28-day period ending July 24, stats show. Though the NYPD contends moving violations fluctuate over time, the numbers continue to plummet across the city as a ticket-fixing scandal looms over the department.
Moving violations previously dropped 18% citywide over the 28-day span through July 3, as the slowdown was taking shape.
Sources said the wildcat action of cops choosing to keep their summons books in their pockets during traffic stops is tied to the ongoing ticket-fixing scandal and the NYPD’s response to it.
Police brass recently created a new policy that strips cops of 10 vacation days if probers in the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau find mistakes in their summonses, memo book entries or testimony.
For cops, the increasingly common response has been: Why bother writing tickets?
Some 52,159 moving violations were issued citywide for the 28-day period ending July 24, down from 67,649 over the same span last year. In the Bronx, where the ticket-fixing scandal began, they were down 32% over the same period.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne argued the decreased numbers were attributable to cops witnessing fewer roadway infractions.
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