Ticket-fixing was so prevalent among police officers in the Bronx that a highway officer whose job was to administer Breathalyzer tests — the tool used to determine if a driver is drunk — was himself caught on a wiretap trying to fix a ticket for someone, reports the New York Times.For more than a year, the office of the Bronx district attorney and the Internal Affairs Bureau of the Police Department have been investigating the widespread practice of ticket-fixing among officers. No officers have yet been charged.
The inquiry is examining the actions of dozens of officers and is focused on allegations that some officers accepted some form of benefit in exchange for fixing tickets. Perhaps two dozen or more officers could face criminal charges as the result of the inquiry. Only those who received a benefit in exchange for fixing tickets, or who may have destroyed police paperwork or committed perjury, face possible criminal charges. Those charges could come as early as this month or June. The police department is preparing for hundreds of internal disciplinary proceedings against officers who escape criminal charges. As many as 300 officers are expected to face departmental charges.