The NYPD is running a protection racket.

I know this sounds like some sort of internet conspiracy theory, but it’s true.

Every year, each police officer in New York — including retired officers — is allowed to buy a certain number of special cards issued by the police union. The officers pay a nominal sum for these cards and then distribute them as they wish. Sometimes they give them to family and friends. Sometimes they exchange them for perks like meal discounts from local businesses. Sometimes they just sell them.

These police benevolent association “courtesy cards” are commonly referred to as “Get Out of Jail Free cards.” The idea is that when someone who has such a card is pulled over for a traffic violation or approached by the police in New York about some other minor offense, simply showing the card to the officer will get the offender off with nothing worse than a mild warning.

This may have been a common, though unheralded, practice decades ago. Certainly, there are any number of rumors and myths from across the country about how things like displaying a certain bumper sticker on your car will keep you from getting pulled over. But in New York, it’s a living tradition.

Worse, it’s a tradition that is ruthlessly enforced. Officers who insist on issuing tickets or........

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