New York City on Tuesday reached a $175,000 settlement with a Staten Island police officer who said he had been a victim of retaliation for giving traffic tickets to people with connections to the upper echelons of the Police Department.

The officer, Mathew Bianchi, filed a lawsuit against the city last May. The suit said that he had been transferred out of his precinct’s traffic unit after Jeffrey Maddrey, then the chief of patrol and now the department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, asked that he be punished. Officer Bianchi had issued a ticket to a woman with whom Chief Maddrey was said to be friends, according to the suit.

“This settlement is a vindication for our client, allowing him to close this chapter and continue his service with the N.Y.P.D.,” John Scola, Officer Bianchi’s lawyer, said on Tuesday. “We hope that Officer Bianchi’s courage and this decisive outcome will inspire other officers to come forward as whistle-blowers.”

  • CileTheSane
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    3 months ago

    And he’s no longer a cop precisely because he was trying to do the morally right thing, that’s why ACAB. Anyone not a bastard gets punished for it until they aren’t a cop anymore.

    • anon6789@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Bianchi said he plans to stay at the NYPD for the foreseeable future, although he plans to use his upcoming windfall to reduce his reliance on the paycheck he gets from the city. He said he hopes that his lawsuit — and his payout — encourage other would-be whistleblowers to speak up about corruption, even if there is a cost.

      No, he is still a cop and wants to use the money to keep doing what he’s been doing and trying to encourage others.

      • CileTheSane
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        3 months ago

        Good for him, I hope he posts on social media every day that he is not suicidal and keeps clear of “friendly fire”.