NYPD Cops Arrested In Prostitution, Gambling Bust

NEW YORK — Seven NYPD cops and up to 40 others were arrested Wednesday for alleged prostitution and gambling activity, the Police Department said. The arrests followed a three-year investigation by the department's Internal Affairs Bureau following a tip from another member of the police force, the NYPD said.

The NYPD did not say what charges the cops will face, what their ranks are or where they work. But the New York Daily News reported that they allegedly provided protection for a gambling and prostitution ring.

"Today, those who swore an oath and then betrayed it have felt the consequences of that infidelity," Police Commissioner James O'Neill said in a statement. "The people of this Department are rightly held to the highest standard, and should they fail to meet it, the penalty will be swift and severe."

The scheme involved several brothels on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens and in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, according to the New York Post. The latter neighborhood's 72nd Precinct stationhouse was stormed Wednesday by Internal Affairs officers who confiscated the contents of a detective's locker, the Post reported.

The group of cops includes three sergeants and two detectives, according to the Daily News. The Queens District Attorney's Office was also involved in the probe, O'Neill said.

"The overwhelming number of police officers are honest and dedicated to making New York City a safe place to live," Queens DA Richard Brown said in a statement. "Neither my office nor Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill will tolerate that tiny percentage of officers who besmirch the reputation of the thousands upon thousands of their noble colleagues."

(Lead image: One Police Plaza is pictured in 2014. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)