Good gig if you can get it!

[El Presidente]

 

NEW YORK CITY

Brickbat: …Where Everybody Knows Your Name and Badge Number

CHARLES OLIVER | 6.12.2024 4:00 AM

 

(Igorr | Dreamstime.com)

A group of New York City sheriffs created a "man cave" at a city storage facility and stocked it with booze and tobacco products seized from stores and bars they raided and closed for violating COVID-19 shutdown orders. They reportedly blocked off the security cameras so they could drink and smoke in the area. The Department of Finance, which employs the sheriffs, has refused to release their names, and department Commissioner Preston Niblack declined to discuss the issue with local media. But officials say that twelve sheriffs were suspended for 30 days without pay over the matter, and none were charged with any crimes.

[jazzboypro]

I think they should minimally lose their jobs. I’m no expert but I would think that a few criminal charges are not impossible. I’m guessing that if those people were civilians they would already be charged with something possibly in prison awaiting trial.

[westg]

3 hours ago, jazzboypro said:

I think they should minimally lose their jobs. I’m no expert but I would think that a few criminal charges are not impossible. I’m guessing that if those people were civilians they would already be charged with something possibly in prison awaiting trial.

And banned from those raided stores and bars for life along with anyone who works for the department of finance . Barstool bastards. 

 

[Li Bai]

Real question here: Were those tobacco products and booze meant to be destroyed?

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, Li Bai said:

Real question here: Were those tobacco products and booze meant to be destroyed?

The alcohol and tobacco were being held as evidence. Goods were seized during the Covid lockdown from unlicensed establishments. All items were meant to have been recorded and ticketed when seized, but was never done.

[Li Bai]

4 hours ago, Fuzz said:

All items were meant to have been recorded and ticketed when seized, but was never done.

That I understand but after that, would it all get destroyed?

[SUP8333]

How many LE and regional sticks would it take to be worth getting suspended for 30 days? Hmmm. 

[Fuzz]

6 hours ago, Li Bai said:

That I understand but after that, would it all get destroyed?

Probably, but only after the trial.

[GerardMichaelTX]

That's exactly the type of corruption that I would expect to happen in New York City. I spent most of COVID smoking cigars and driving around the Texas countryside in places that had little to no mask enforcement and very few cases of COVID. Most of my time spent in the country was eating sausages.

Probably one of the best years of my life.

[Li Bai]

7 hours ago, Fuzz said:

Probably, but only after the trial.

Well, if everything was gonna be destroyed anyway... I'm not saying what they did was alright but I've always thought it was a shame to destroy good stuff 😅

[Habanoschris]

I'd be a hypocrite if I disagreed with this...well, let's just say many, many, many years ago I might have indirectly benefited from an entire station wagon cargo back filled with confiscated fireworks that were slated to be destroyed in a large fire pit of sorts. Of course, I am not an officer of the law. 

🫣

P.S. I wonder what customs do w/all those lovely boxes of cigars that are seized everyday? 🤔

[NeoGeo]

23 hours ago, jazzboypro said:

I think they should minimally lose their jobs. I’m no expert but I would think that a few criminal charges are not impossible. I’m guessing that if those people were civilians they would already be charged with something possibly in prison awaiting trial.

Yeah, not a chance on either one of those happening. Their union will protect them and they'll eventually get the back-pay they missed for the suspension. But yeah, if they were normal citizens, it would be a huge ordeal...similar to what it was for the establishments they confiscated their stash from during the pandemic.

[Chibearsv]

I always thought confiscated illegal goods were for the personal use of police. Maybe that’s a Chicago thing…and New York apparently.

[Li Bai]

8 hours ago, Chibearsv said:

I always thought confiscated illegal goods were for the personal use of police. Maybe that’s a Chicago thing…and New York apparently.

That's not a Chicago or NY thing, or not even an American thing. That's more of a police thing.

[jazzboypro]

13 hours ago, Chibearsv said:

I always thought confiscated illegal goods were for the personal use of police. Maybe that’s a Chicago thing…and New York apparently.

I don't think the goods are illegal per se. They were seized in legit stores and bars. I understand that the stores/bars were violating COVID-19 shutdown orders but I don't see the necessity to seize the goods. A fine or suspension of their permits would have suffice, I would think. The goods should have been returned to those bars/stores after the COVID-19 shutdown were lifted.

[Chibearsv]

10 hours ago, jazzboypro said:

I don't think the goods are illegal per se. They were seized in legit stores and bars. I understand that the stores/bars were violating COVID-19 shutdown orders but I don't see the necessity to seize the goods. A fine or suspension of their permits would have suffice, I would think. The goods should have been returned to those bars/stores after the COVID-19 shutdown were lifted.

I was thinking they were potentially operating as a speakeasy in some regard. Maybe out of a space that had no licensing. But if these were licensed bars and restaurants, I agree. Seizing their property is pretty shitty.

[jazzboypro]

5 hours ago, Chibearsv said:

I was thinking they were potentially operating as a speakeasy in some regard. Maybe out of a space that had no licensing. But if these were licensed bars and restaurants, I agree. Seizing their property is pretty shitty.

You may be correct. The OP led me to believe that they were legit stores/bars but maybe they were not. Even in the case of a speakeasy I don't think they would have the right to consume or profit in any way of the seized goods. 

[Chibearsv]

5 hours ago, jazzboypro said:

You may be correct. The OP led me to believe that they were legit stores/bars but maybe they were not. Even in the case of a speakeasy I don't think they would have the right to consume or profit in any way of the seized goods. 

No doubt. But legal rights vs. common practice, when it comes to police, may be very different things.

[jazzboypro]

4 hours ago, Chibearsv said:

No doubt. But legal rights vs. common practice, when it comes to police, may be very different things.

Well said and very true.

[Dr Process]

With a few caveats in place (As long as goods were not confiscated deliberately to be enjoyed by the sheriffs AND this was not happening while they were supposed to be working), I don’t think this is too too terrible.  
 
I’m NOT in law enforcement. Seems like a tough job. Again, with the caveats in place, I’d cut them some slack.  

[jazzboypro]

2 hours ago, Dr Process said:

With a few caveats in place (As long as goods were not confiscated deliberately to be enjoyed by the sheriffs AND this was not happening while they were supposed to be working), I don’t think this is too too terrible.  
 
I’m NOT in law enforcement. Seems like a tough job. Again, with the caveats in place, I’d cut them some slack.  

Working or not they are still representatives of law enforcement. Appearances is paramount from the public’s point of view about law enforcement. These officers have demonstrated a lack of judgement and that they cannot be trusted and they should be dealt with accordingly. What would they have done if let’s say money/drug had been involved in the seizure ? What if you were the owner of one of those bars/stores and learned about that ? No matter their intent at the time of seizure (‘or after) they had no right (‘in my view) to profit from those goods in any way.

[Fuzz]

19 hours ago, jazzboypro said:

You may be correct. The OP led me to believe that they were legit stores/bars but maybe they were not. Even in the case of a speakeasy I don't think they would have the right to consume or profit in any way of the seized goods. 

Not legit, the seized goods came from raids on unlicensed stores, according to the article.

[jazzboypro]

7 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Not legit, the seized goods came from raids on unlicensed stores, according to the article.

I stand corrected and the seizure was warranted but my opinion about what they did with the goods still stands.

[Dr Process]

7 hours ago, jazzboypro said:

Working or not they are still representatives of law enforcement. Appearances is paramount from the public’s point of view about law enforcement. These officers have demonstrated a lack of judgement and that they cannot be trusted and they should be dealt with accordingly. What would they have done if let’s say money/drug had been involved in the seizure ? What if you were the owner of one of those bars/stores and learned about that ? No matter their intent at the time of seizure (‘or after) they had no right (‘in my view) to profit from those goods in any way.

You certainly raise valid points.

For the sake of friendly discussion, I will try to offer a response.

In regards to what if it were money/drugs, I think there are degrees of “wrong”.  While certainly it is a slippery slope to be enjoying confiscated goods, I would not place alcohol/cigars in the same category as blood money/drugs. 

As for my feelings, if I were the owner of the establishment who was operating at that time outside of the law, I would chalk up the losses as the price of doing business. For example, I live in the US and am grateful to receive stogies from our host. If the stogies do not reach me and end up in the hands/oral mucosa of a customs agent, well, I guess that was a potential outcome and I wouldn’t lose sleep. I would not go looking for said customs agent. Haha

All that said, I do agree with you that law-enforcement agents should be held to certain standards.

If I were the judge, I wouldn’t be throwing the book at them.

just my two cents.  
thanks for reading!

[jazzboypro]

On 6/15/2024 at 2:23 PM, Dr Process said:

You certainly raise valid points.

For the sake of friendly discussion, I will try to offer a response.

In regards to what if it were money/drugs, I think there are degrees of “wrong”.  While certainly it is a slippery slope to be enjoying confiscated goods, I would not place alcohol/cigars in the same category as blood money/drugs. 

As for my feelings, if I were the owner of the establishment who was operating at that time outside of the law, I would chalk up the losses as the price of doing business. For example, I live in the US and am grateful to receive stogies from our host. If the stogies do not reach me and end up in the hands/oral mucosa of a customs agent, well, I guess that was a potential outcome and I wouldn’t lose sleep. I would not go looking for said customs agent. Haha

All that said, I do agree with you that law-enforcement agents should be held to certain standards.

If I were the judge, I wouldn’t be throwing the book at them.

just my two cents.  
thanks for reading!

I understand that the stores/bars were operating outside of the law and it has been said that they were not legit so the seizure was warranted and I have no problem with that. However, the officers opening a “man cave” in a city owned storage facility, deactivating security cameras to drink seazed booze is not in any way more legal than the places the booze was seized from. The fact that it’s been done by law enforcement officers makes it even worse. In your cigar example, the same thing applies. If it’s not legal for you to obtain the cigars then it’s not legal for the custom officer to benefit in any way of said cigars.

In the case of the law enforcement officers, if I was the judge they would do time and their career as law enforcement officers would be permanently over.