By Rocco Parascandola, Graham Rayman and Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Seven NYPD officers have been busted for their alleged involvement in a prostitution and gambling ring, the New York Daily News has learned.
Three sergeants, two detectives and two police officers were arrested and stripped of their guns and shields after they were taken in for questioning by the New York Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau on Wednesday.
Two other detectives were not criminally charged, but were placed on modified duty and forced to turn in their weapons and badges.
A high-ranking NYPD source said that the investigation took three years to complete and involved “hundreds of hours of surveillance and multiple (wiretaps).”
The officers allegedly provided protection for both a prostitution and a gambling ring, sources said.
Internal Affairs began looking into the allegations after they were tipped off by another cop, the source said.
“This was an investigation that was initiated by a member of the service, followed through by Internal Affairs and it came to this conclusion,” the source explained. “We’re cleaning our own house. This was literally a member of the department calling IAB and saying he didn’t like what was going on here.”
The charges the cops are facing were not immediately disclosed. Their arraignments are pending.
An estimated 40 others involved in the prostitution and gambling ring are also expected to be charged, officials said.
“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 IAB) initiated this probe and in doing so, has sent a clear message: There is no place in the NYPD for criminal or unethical behavior.”