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Posted on 02/25/2010 8:06:58 AM PST by ellery
Officer Frank Palestro, the latest cop to call foul on corruption in the NYPD, has gotten serious flak from his fellow police and the union, though he maintains he was just doing his duty. The union delegate and nine-year police veteran was outed after secretly reporting Lt. Susana Seda for behavior such as telling cops to write summonses for traffic violations they didn't witness, refusing to take complaints and tampering with a gun at a crime scene. Since then, he's been transferred so he won't have to deal with the wrath of his peers in the precinct. "I was the [Patrolmen's Benevolent Association] delegate, and now I'm labeled a rat for doing what I was supposed to do," said Palestro. "This will stay with me for the rest of my career."
According to Palestro, union reps rarely report the infractions of their fellow officers. "I wrestled with it for a while because I'm a delegate and we don't do things like this," he told the Daily News. In the end he made three anonymous phone calls reporting corruption within his precinct, but the log of his calls somehow made its way into the vents of his locker at the stationhouse! "[Seda] told everybody I was a 'f------ rat,'" he said, adding that the union has also reprimanded him. So far no action has been taken against the accused lieutenant.
Palestro's allegations follow a study that revealed widespread and deeply ingrained corruption regarding how the NYPD's crime statistics are obtained, as well as whistleblowing by several other members of the force.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/02/24/2010-02-24_a_rat_for_doing_the_right_thing_cop_whistleblower_a_union_delegate.html
Another isolated incident ping.
Serpico, all over again.
Trust me I saw the corruption first hand. I asked for the officers name and was threatened with another ticket.
When I filed an internal affairs report they called me a month later, 11:30pm on New Years Eve!. Then 6am New years Day. Called them at beg of next week (back from vacation) and told case was closed since I didn’t respond fast enough
SERPICO IN NYC... get outta here...
RICO should be used against the union. They reprimanded the WHISTLEBLOWER!
If you can make it THERE... you’re probably CONNECTED...
Serpico’s an odd one but he did give things a good airing out. Unfortunately, nothing much changes as incentives remain the same.
Many LEO posting here on Free Republic have the same mindset.
...and police wonder why the public hates them.
Any scuttlebutt yiou can provide?
Yup. they'll probably stay away from this thread though.
later.
I have no knowledge of this incident personally, but here's my take:
The delegate didn't see any of these instances of the Lt.'s wrongdoing personally. He was told about it by other cops and called internal affairs on their behalf.
Someone ratted the delegate out for making the calls. Most likely another boss. Not sure how they found out. Maybe someone has a friend at internal affairs and dropped a dime. Someone at IAB is gonna roll for this.
Anyway, I would guess the cops at the precinct are on the delegates side, not the lieutenants. Actually, if I was a betting man I would put good money on it.
Interesting. Thanks.
To add to that point, delegates are elected by their fellow cops on the precinct level. They are popular and people go to them first for help. They are trusted. This guy got transfered in order to protect him, not punish him.
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