A police sting dubbed "Operation Lucky Bag," intended to collar sticky-fingered thieves, is drawing fire from lawmakers and advocates who fear it may also be snaring unsuspecting Good Samaritans.
Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) has introduced a bill to outlaw the tactic after receiving several complaints from residents in her district.
"This practice by the NYPD just discourages people from seeing something and saying something. It also discourages people from being Good Samaritans," Meng said.
For the sting, cops put a bag in a public location filled with valuables such as an iPod or cash. If someone walks away with the bag or its contents, that person is nabbed.
Cops detained a Flushing pastor in January after he picked up a bag that was part of the sting, Meng said. The pastor told Meng he was trying to return the bag to its owner.
NYPD officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Civil rights advocates said the operation smacks of entrapment.
Attorney Norman Siegel said people who are arrested through Operation Lucky Bag should "pursue a lawsuit for false arrest."
Anyone who finds lost property has 10 days to return it to the owner, so that makes the sting illegal, Siegel said.
"The program is unjust, and it should be discontinued," he said.
Meng's bill has yet to be scheduled for a vote by the Assembly. Her office is searching for others who may have been arrested under the sting operation.
David Hawkins, 55, said he was making a deposit into an ATM machine at the HSBC branch on Main St. in Flushing two months ago when he noticed an abandoned purse with a wad of cash inside.
Hawkins said he took the cash and walked out of the bank. He didn't get very far before cops nabbed him and tossed him in jail for three days, he said. He pleaded guilty to petty larceny.
"What the police did was not right. You don't try to tempt citizens into committing crimes. [The police] are there to prevent crimes," Hawkins said.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said she supports Meng's bill and can't imagine how anyone feels safer with this operation in place.
"This program, which treats Good Samaritans like pickpockets, is ill-advised and is a real violation of civil rights," Lieberman said.
If Operation Lucky Bag continues, Meng said, it will deter New Yorkers from heeding the NYPD's mantra - See something, Say something.
"When the NYPD employs this kind of practice throughout the city, it's a complete deterrent to what we're trying to do," she said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/05/18/2011-05-18_bad_buzz_for_sting_lost_bag_operation_an_nypd_setup__pol.html#ixzz1Mja8TmWh
Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) has introduced a bill to outlaw the tactic after receiving several complaints from residents in her district.
"This practice by the NYPD just discourages people from seeing something and saying something. It also discourages people from being Good Samaritans," Meng said.
For the sting, cops put a bag in a public location filled with valuables such as an iPod or cash. If someone walks away with the bag or its contents, that person is nabbed.
Cops detained a Flushing pastor in January after he picked up a bag that was part of the sting, Meng said. The pastor told Meng he was trying to return the bag to its owner.
NYPD officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Civil rights advocates said the operation smacks of entrapment.
Attorney Norman Siegel said people who are arrested through Operation Lucky Bag should "pursue a lawsuit for false arrest."
Anyone who finds lost property has 10 days to return it to the owner, so that makes the sting illegal, Siegel said.
"The program is unjust, and it should be discontinued," he said.
Meng's bill has yet to be scheduled for a vote by the Assembly. Her office is searching for others who may have been arrested under the sting operation.
David Hawkins, 55, said he was making a deposit into an ATM machine at the HSBC branch on Main St. in Flushing two months ago when he noticed an abandoned purse with a wad of cash inside.
Hawkins said he took the cash and walked out of the bank. He didn't get very far before cops nabbed him and tossed him in jail for three days, he said. He pleaded guilty to petty larceny.
"What the police did was not right. You don't try to tempt citizens into committing crimes. [The police] are there to prevent crimes," Hawkins said.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said she supports Meng's bill and can't imagine how anyone feels safer with this operation in place.
"This program, which treats Good Samaritans like pickpockets, is ill-advised and is a real violation of civil rights," Lieberman said.
If Operation Lucky Bag continues, Meng said, it will deter New Yorkers from heeding the NYPD's mantra - See something, Say something.
"When the NYPD employs this kind of practice throughout the city, it's a complete deterrent to what we're trying to do," she said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/05/18/2011-05-18_bad_buzz_for_sting_lost_bag_operation_an_nypd_setup__pol.html#ixzz1Mja8TmWh
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