Police abuse of Uber driver in New York City. In an unmarked car, the policeman was allegedly attempting to park without using his blinker at a green light. (His reverse lights weren't on. Likely double parked without hazards on.) The Uber driver pulled around and gestured that he should use his blinker, casually and non-offensively, and kept driving us. The policeman quickly pulls up behind us and this is what happens.
This occurred just before 2pm on the West side of Manhattan, in NYPD 6th Precinct, on March 30th, 2015, near Little West 12th Street. The officer did not identify himself, but he had a New York license plate: GSS 8891.
The officer was later identified as Detective Patrick Cherry, at the time a member of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
As of April 1st, 2015, NYPD Commissioner Bratton has announced his transfer off the Task Force, saying "All good cops know that the officer just made their jobs a little bit harder. ... Anger like that is unacceptable in any encounter. Discourtesy like that and language like that is unacceptable. That officer's behavior reflected poorly on everyone who wears that uniform."
Update as of April 29th, 2015: The Civilian Complaint Review Board heard testimony and conducted a formal investigation into the officer's discourtesy. They substantiated the six separate counts outlined in the complaint submitted to them –Abuse of Authority (3), Discourtesy (2), and Offensive Language (1) – and recommended charges be filed against the officer, which may result in an administrative hearing and a penalty more severe than command discipline. (Command discipline means the officer should receive discipline at the local, command level, which may range from instructions to the loss of up to ten days' pay.)
