Internal Affairs Crackdown Nets Placard Abusers

They’re summonsing their own, and then some.

The Post reports that NYPD Internal Affairs launched a sweep last week against illegally parked placarded vehicles and fake parking permits, resulting in 178 tickets, nearly two dozen towed vehicles and the arrest of one retired officer. The operation targeted Lower Manhattan and “government and courthouse hubs” in other boroughs.

The four-day crackdown – from Tuesday, April 1, through Friday – was prompted by constant complaints from motorists and pedestrians that cars abusing their placard privileges were double-parking or using spots where they were not permitted and clogging streets.

Forty-eight of the ticketed cars belonged to the NYPD, with cops abusing either their personal placards or precinct permits. Six cop cars were towed.

The FDNY was also hit in the blitz. Three of its cars with “official” placards were ticketed. Another four FDNY cars, bearing “union” placards, were ticketed, and one of those was towed.

Six tickets were written to cars belonging to the city’s Department of Transportation, which, ironically, along with the NYPD, has been placed in charge of the mayor’s overhaul of the city’s sprawling placard problem.

Eighteen vehicles baring state placards were ticketed, with three towed.

The feds were also hammered – 21 of their cars were hit with summonses, with four towed.

According to a source quoted in the story, the city is “giving agencies a really hard time” about permit renewals, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg’s directive to cut down on placard issues.

Photo: Uncivil Servants