This former new Yorker knows that the NYPD is a paramilitary band of thugs that operate with near total impunity and practically no oversight.
New Yorkers tolerate the fact that the NYPD will hold and search any individual without cause.
A New York cop lied to my face when I was pulled over for rolling through a red light on my freaking bicycle:
The constable said that If I paid by ticket quickly in person the fine would be $20.
When I slogged myself up into the jungle that is upper Manhattan the clerk said “That will be one hundred and ninety Dollars please”.
I told her that the officer said the ticket would be settled for $20.
She explained that the cop gave a figure of 20 to avoid a protracted argument there on the tarmac.