#myNYPD Twitter callout backfires for New York police department

[Ideologue]

You have a pretty black sense of humor is all.

[Malthus]

You have a pretty black sense of humor is all.

As I recall at the time, he was plenty pissed about being robbed, but we were not exactly sympathetic - he got lots of ribbing for doing stupid shit to get noticed while he was carrying dope. 

[Capetan Mihali]

Your friend was robbed by a man under the color of lawful authority!

I've heard about this happening to people pretty regularly since Vt. decriminalized possession under 2 oz. and s.mall amounts don't have much evidentiary value anymore.  So if they find it in the car in an alcohol DUI case, they just take it for themselves rather than write up a ticket for it.

Cops have been diverting contraband since forever.  Hell, the SF police were recently found running a big cocaine dealing operation out of the evidence room.

[Ideologue]

Indeed.  It's not very funny though.

[Ed Anger]

My Dad had a closet full of seized booze. Or so I was told.

[The Brain]

"What is it about my forbidden closet of mystery???!"

[jimmy olsen]

The metropolitan police did try and fit up a mate of mine once. We were walking around Soho about 2 in the morning when we spotted a policeman's hat in the gutter, my mate went and picked it up, big mistake............we were swooped upon by half-a-dozen armed police. Luckily we had only finished work at midnight, so were sober, also my friend had some legal training which helped in the chat that followed. He pointed out that I hadn't even touched the hat and they had jumped us before we even had a chance to discuss our find, so they let me go and no arrest was made, useful if you want to travel to the USA on visa-waiver. However, they did arrest my friend and charged him with theft. He hired a barrister; we had to miss a day's work chatting to him, then another shift for the trial. I was a witness so missed most of the 20-minute trial. The boss of the cops was in the anteroom where I waited for my turn on the stage, an inspector or some such, he remarked "well this is a damned tuppeny-hapenny affair!". I had to agree.

The magistrate found not guilty of course and awarded £50 costs against the cops (the real costs were much higher of course). He then gave a pompous little speech and advised us not to wander about town in the small hours 

I like to think the commanding officer of the cops gave them a bollocking for this; armed cops were very rare in those days, they were supposed to be doing something much more important with their time; but doubt that any action was taken.

Malthus story at least makes sense because it was a set up by a corrupt cop to rob people.

What was the point of all this? Surely if they need to make an arrest qouta the police can arrange entrapment of someone on a much higher charge. Setting up the "theft" of a policeman's hat seems like a complete waste of time.

[Richard Hakluyt]

It was utterly senseless Tim.

I suppose they got some office time preparing their "case" and then had a morning in court instead of doing some actual policing, maybe they were idle bastards 

It was in Soho too; if they needed to make arrests then there were any number of "drunk and disorderly" folk about and, of course, things far worse than that just under the surface