NYPD Cop Threatened For Ignoring 'Get Out Of Jail Free Cards': Suit

NEW YORK CITY — An NYPD officer faced bullying and angry threats from his colleagues for ignoring police union "courtesy cards" used by family and friends of cops to skirt traffic tickets, according to a new lawsuit.

Officer Mathew Bianchi sued the city and a police captain last week in federal court, arguing that his superiors retaliated against him for his stance against the "corrupt" cards.

The NYPD's five unions pass out courtesy cards each year to members, who then give them to family and friends to use as what critics describe as a "get out of jail free" pass for minor infractions such as traffic tickets.

When cops such as Bianchi don't heed the cards, they can face angry calls — or worse — from their colleagues and superiors, the lawsuit contends.

“This is not only corrupt but it’s a safety issue,” Bianchi wrote in a complaint quoted in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit details nine traffic stops in which Bianchi effectively ignored or questioned courtesy cards carried by fellow cops' family members and friends.

Each time, Bianchi contends that he faced pushback, sometimes during the stop itself, according to the lawsuit.

"Watch what happens if you write this (ticket)," said one woman, who received a courtesy card from retired cop husband, the lawsuit states.

"Watch what happens if I stop someone you know," the woman's son, a Staten Island cop, later told Bianchi, according to the lawsuit.

At one point, Bianchi pulled over a woman who happened to be friends with the NYPD's Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, the lawsuit states. Afterward, Bianchi was removed from the traffic unit, passed over for a promotion and told his ticket "p----- off someone very high up," according to the complaint.

Bianchi contends that the courtesy cards are not only unfair and let unsafe to motorists repeatedly off the hook, but also lead to more traffic stops for New Yorkers who aren't white because cops in the traffic unit are expected to issue a certain number of tickets: a quota.

"As a result of the quota policy and the unwritten rule that you cannot write tickets to civilians with Courtesy Cards police officers are forced to disproportionately ticket minority drivers as they are less likely to possess the Courtesy Cards or have affiliations with law enforcement," the lawsuit states.

Representatives with the city's law department declined to comment on pending litigation.