The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The head of the New York Police Department’s detectives’ union says the NYPD has been towing its own unmarked cars and then paying detectives overtime to retrieve them from the pound.
Michael Palladino, president of the Detective’s Endowment Association, says that, over an 18 month span, the union has documented nearly 40 instances of detectives’ cars being towed while they were on the job.
Paul Browne, chief spokesman for the NYPD, said Monday that parking placards never allowed officers to park illegally in front of fire hydrants, bus stops, cross walks and on sidewalks.
The department has stepped up enforcement of illegal parking after Mayor Michael Bloomberg cut the number of placards issued.
Palladino says the practice has endangered stranded officers, the public and even those under arrest.