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From the History
of the New York Police Department It was further proposed to extend the jurisdiction of the Justices to cases in which
$50 or under was involved, the jurisdiction being concurrent with that of the Mayor's court over $25, and the defendant
having the option of removing the case to the latter tribunal on giving security. Another suggestion, which shows growth in
liberality, forbids that any man who actually supported a family should b e imprisoned for a debt less then $25; and finally
it was proposed that the Justices should lave power to grant new trials, and, except in the Ninth Ward, should be salaried
officers, paid by the city. All these suggestions were approved by the Common Council, which instructed the Corporation Counsel
to prepare a corresponding memorial and bill for presentation tot he legislature. This was done, and an act founded on the
outline here given was adopted. In 1817 the salary of Police Justice was set at $750 per annum. The Clerks of the police courts
about the same time made a successful effort to have themselves in common with Constables and marshal, exempted from militia
duty.
The Humane society (1817), it is to
be presumed, from their printed "directions to prevent the fatal effects of drinking cold water," had but slight
sympathy with the principles of St. John. The remedy for which, as prescribed by this excellently humane society, was "spirits
and water," or , in other words, "grog." "with the view of carrying into effect the foregoing directions,"
it is stated "the society have appointed six physicians, * * * * whose province it is to take charge of such persons
as are contemplated in this provision, and on whom our citizens are requested to call when accidents of this nature may occur."
Verily, that was a humane, not to say a philanthropic society.
Source: Our Police Protectors Holice and Debbie
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Bill Erwin and Stephen Del Corso were narcotics detectives in the New York
Police Department. They co-authored the true story, Blue Domino. According
to the book description, “Blue Domino
is a cop's-eye view of a narcotics case so big and so successful that it resulted in the conviction of 86 major heroin dealers. It is also the story of the "Lady in Pink," a beautiful Puerto Rican drug courier
who turned out to be the key to the case. And it is the story of the biggest
bribe ever offered a detective in the history of the New York Police Department.”
The book cover says, “Detectives Steve Del Corso and Bill Erwin had worked
narcotics before and knew that the heroin network was almost impossible to breach. It
was frustrating work. Then, one day in 1972, Steve and Bill tailed a known dealer
to a quiet block in East Harlem, and before their eyes saw millions of dollars of heroin changing hands right out in the open,
on the sidewalk in front of the local fruit store, barbershop, and tavern. The
street was Pleasant Avenue, and its drug traffic was pumping forty to fifty kilos of heroin a week into New York, and from
there to other cities in America. The heroin network, the detectives now decided,
was really like a row of dominoes-if they could knock over Pleasant Avenue, all the major dealers of the northeast would go
down behind it.
The story of how they
did it was a landmark case in narcotics law enforcement. This is the case that
could never have been prosecuted if a detective hadn't received a videotape camera for Christmas. Concealed in a window on Pleasant Avenue, that camera eventually recorded thousands of hours of drug transactions
as they took place. This is the case that would never have come to trial if Del
Corso and Erwin had not befriended Dolores Gomez, a tough, street-smart drug courier who risked her life by turning state's
evidence. And this is the case that could have been blown if Del Corso and Erwin
had accepted the biggest bribe ever offered two New York City detectives: $250,000 to destroy the evidence they'd collected-and
kill Dolores Gomez.”
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