Cops Going After Cops Who Expose Corruption

Internal Affairs leak eyed in 42nd Precinct cop-vs.-cop case
The New York Daily News by Rocco Parascandola and John Marzulli - February 25, 2010

Frank Palestro resigned his post with the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and was transferred out of the 42nd Precinct after he was outed as the whistleblower. Internal Affairs investigators are trying to determine whether one of their own tipped off a Bronx stationhouse that a union delegate had lodged corruption allegations, sources said Wednesday. Officer Frank Palestro resigned his post with the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and was transferred out of the 42nd Precinct after he was outed as the whistleblower. The Internal Affairs Bureau is still probing his allegations that Lt. Susana Seda ordered cops to write bogus summonses for traffic violations, refused to take crime complaints and tampered with a crime scene. Such complaints are supposed to remain anonymous - but soon after Palestro made the allegations, a mousetrap with his name on it was found inside the stationhouse and an IAB log with his cell phone number was stuck on his locker. The NYPD and Seda, who now works for the Bronx Task Force, have refused comment. "The log was sent back to the precinct by IAB and I think it was done deliberately," said Palestro's lawyer, Eric Sanders.