NYPD moving violations down 22% citywide as cops react to ongoing ticket-fixing probeBY Kevin Deutsch and Bob Kappstatter DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERSSunday, July 31st 2011, 4:00 AMMike Albans/NewsNYPD issued 23% fewer traffic summonses in July as the department was caught in a ticket-fixing scandal.NYPD cops are writing fewer and fewer tickets for moving violations as an unofficial summons-writing slowdown picks up steam.Summonses for moving violations were down about 22.9% across the cityfor the 28-day period ending July 24, stats show. Though the NYPDcontends moving violations fluctuate over time, the numbers continue toplummet across the city as a ticket-fixing scandal looms over thedepartment.Moving violations previously dropped 18% citywide over the 28-day span through July 3, as the slowdown was taking shape.Sources said the wildcat action of cops choosing to keep theirsummons books in their pockets during traffic stops is tied to theongoing ticket-fixing scandal and the NYPD's response to it.Police brass recently created a new policy that strips cops of 10vacation days if probers in the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau findmistakes in their summonses, memo book entries or testimony.For cops, the increasingly common response has been: Why bother writing tickets?"One cop had 12 summonses, all of them with no problems," a policesource said. "Then he had one with a small error - and they docked him10 days!"Another cop seethed with us-against-them angst in a posting on ablog, THEE RANT, for cops. "STOP writing movers," the cop wrote, usingpolice slang for a moving violation. "Support each other and DON'T bethreatened by the job. WE CONTROL how many summonses get written."Some 52,159 moving violations were issued citywide for the 28-dayperiod ending July 24, down from 67,649 over the same span last year. Inthe Bronx, where the ticket-fixing scandal began, they were down 32%over the same period.NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne argued the decreased numberswere attributable to cops witnessing fewer roadway infractions."The number of summonses issued in the Bronx and elsewhere fluctuatesbased on observed violations," said Browne. "Long before IAB'sinvestigation, moving violations had declined by the same percentage inthe Bronx in 2002 as they have now, yet no one claimed a slowdown then."But as one police source noted, cops were busy that year combingthrough debris at the destroyed World Trade Center and at a storage siteon Staten Island for human remains.Moving violations are down 8.6% citywide for the year, with 525,569issued through July 24, compared with 575,035 at that point the yearbefore.NYPD cops anxiously await the results as a Bronx grand jury decideswhether to indict some 40 officers for fixing tickets or taking bribes.At least 100 other cops are expected to face departmental trials in theprobe, being led by the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau.The latest issue to anger cops is word that Bronx District AttorneyRobert Johnson's grand jury may indict the Patrolmen's BenevolentAssociation and its leaders for fixing tickets - mostly as a courtesy tofellow cops.A number of prosecutors in Johnson's office fear cops will retaliateby offering only the slightest amount of cooperation with criminalcases."It could become a really big problem," said a source in Johnson's office. "Tensions are pretty high."A Bronx cop who has testified in several recent cases said prosecutors have reason to be afraid."If they're going to go after the union, they shouldn't expect copsto put the hours in getting ready for their cases," the cop said. "Theycan't have it both ways."[url=mailto: rkappstatter@nydailynews.com rkappstatter@nydailynews.com [/url]Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crim ... z1ThJkcctZ