NYPD Accused of Enticing Bogus Crime - "Operation Lucky Bag,"

NYPD Accused of Enticing Bogus Crime

BROOKLYN (CN) - Fresh off a trial for racial profiling, the NYPD faces another class action accusing it of giving people "an unfair enticement to commit crime" by leaving valuables in public places and arresting people who pick them up.

Lead plaintiff Spiridon Argyros sued New York City, Police Officer Daniel Fody, and other unidentified members of the NYPD, in Federal Court.

He claims the NYPD, through its "Operation Lucky Bag," treats good Samaritans as criminals, giving people "an unfair enticement to commit crime," arresting them without proof they had any intent to steal.

"This is a civil rights class action that challenges the constitutionality of a widespread and ongoing New York City Police Department ('NYPD') operation known as 'Operation Lucky Bag,' which entraps its victims, presumes their guilt and results in their unlawful arrest and detention," the complaint states.

"Operation Lucky Bag is a policy and practice of the NYPD in which police officers intentionally place a bag that contains a valuable item such as a wallet or laptop in a public place, and lay in wait, often out of sight, until someone picks up the bag and/or removes or attempts to remove the valuable. The police then arrest the person, presuming s/he intends to retain the valuable, rather than to return the property to the rightful owner or turn it in to the proper authority. Though the policy and practice is purportedly intended to catch thieves and deter crime, it is overbroad and treats honest individuals acting as good Samaritans as criminals."

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/05/22/57866.htm