NYPD Gun License Division Was A Bribery Machine
BY Herschel Smith
6 years, 6 months ago
They might as well have a had a hotline: 1-800-GIFTS4GUNS.
A former city cop spilled his guts Tuesday, telling Manhattan jurors about years worth of bribes he and his fellow officers received for doling out gun permits — everything from cash, prostitutes and expensive watches to baseball memorabilia and exotic vacations.
David Villanueva, an ex-supervisor in the NYPD’s License Division, said he and other cops — including officers Richard Ochetel and Robert Espinel and Lt. Paul Dean — were on the take for years from so-called gun expeditors.
In exchange, the officers doled out pistol permits like candy — even to people who should not have had them, Villanueva said.
One expeditor, he said, may have had ties to organized crime. Another got help with 100 gun permits over the years — “none” of which should have been approved.
Villanueva gave the testimony at the Manhattan federal court trial of John Chambers, a self-described gun lawyer to the stars accused of plying Villanueva with lavish gifts, including an $8,500 diamond-studded watch and tickets to Broadway shows, in exchange for gun permits.
So what’s the problem? This is the way Banana republics and communist countries are supposed to work. Bribery of government officials is a way of life in totalitarian states.
On April 20, 2018 at 4:32 am, DAN III said:
“NYPD Gun License Division Was A Bribery Machine”
Mr. Smith, I must ask: Are you surprised by this revelation ?
If you have not, read the book “Serpico”. If you have, read it again. Then follow up with the movie by the same name.
“Serpico” was written almost 50 years ago. Frank Serpico, an NYPD police officer, had ethics and moral values. What he discovered as a patrol officer was simply the ENTIRE department, all the way up to and including the commissioner, were corrupt. Many on the take. After all these years nothing has changed for the better with NYPD. Besides, how different are these badged thugs from the scum of political office, who are bought with millions of dollars in political “contributions” ?
Frank Serpico was the last of the good cops, truly a peace officer. His efforts to oppose the NYPD corruption almost cost him his life. His “brother” officers tried to kill him. They failed. Mr. Serpico left the NYPD. The corruption continued and does so to this very day.
I say again: There are no good cops.
On April 20, 2018 at 7:26 am, Herschel Smith said:
Dan, why on earth would I be surprised by any of this? I’m a Calvinist.
On April 20, 2018 at 7:32 am, Fred said:
None of this is surprising but you know what caught my eye? The article keeps saying that they shouldn’t have had permits. So I assume the recipients were slow to the point of intellectual inability to handle a weapon, manipulate, and operate the weapon as a simple machine? Because either any idiot can carry a weapon or nobody can.
The problem here is in the fact that permits exist. I guess that ship sailed long ago. I was born out of time.
On April 20, 2018 at 10:51 am, DAN III said:
Mr. Smith,
My question posed to you was rhetorical in nature.
On April 20, 2018 at 1:16 pm, Bill Robbins said:
Dan III: I am from NY and remember the actual Serpico case, as well as the movie, which was powerful and disturbing. NY was a very bad place back in those days, and NY’s current mayor has returned NY to its former “glory.”
On April 20, 2018 at 3:23 pm, TheOtherGeorge said:
This goes a long way toward explaining why NY cops are so adamant about gun permits and maintaining the status quo regarding them. They are probably not so much against citizens being able to buy and own guns, rather they simply want to issue the permit to own them…for a price.