The NYPD is checking cops’ personal cars at precincts citywide to see if they violate vehicle regulations – the latest in a broader push to police the police, sources told The Post.
The autos are checked for overly-tinted windshields, valid inspection stickers, and registration, obstructive license plate covers, or missing or defaced plates.
“The NYPD has lost its mind and is doing the bidding of [Mayor] Adams and [Gov.] Hochul to generate much-needed revenue,” a police source said.
The spot checks are laid out in a department memo fired off recently about the NYPD’s shooting range in Rodman’s Neck in the Bronx.
“Effective IMMEDIATELY the following [Vehicle and Traffic Law] violations will be strictly enforced,” the memo declares.
But the crackdown goes beyond the shooting range, police sources said.
“They’re going after guys everywhere,” one source said.
Scrutiny of the NYPD’s already-thinning ranks began earlier this year and started with cops whose beards were longer than a quarter of an inch, who drink coffee while on post in uniform, or otherwise act unprofessional.
Retired John Jay College of Criminal Justice Professor Joseph Giacalone, a former NYPD sergeant, said he doesn’t remember vehicle rules ever being enforced when he was on the job.
“As the department is changing with the times and generations, different rules need to be enforced,” he said. “For old-timers like myself, we scratch our heads and think ‘Why do we even need to tell cops this?’”
“The mantra that I and my fellow cops had back in the day was how can you enforce the laws when you’re breaking it yourself?”
One cop criticized the crackdown as selective — with brass getting a pass.
“When they come to the precinct, they don’t go after any supervisors because these a–holes who are enforcing this s–t are all sergeants and lieutenants,” a Brooklyn police officer said. “Then they wonder why morale sucks and cops are miserable.”
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said the crackdown was “another glaring example of the NYPD’s misplaced priorities.”
“We are still thousands of cops short, we can’t fill a recruiting class, and yet some bosses are more worried about inspection stickers on cop’s personal cars,” he said. “Nonsense like this is making the staffing crisis worse.”