They’re called “courtesy cards” – at least officially.

Many New Jersey drivers know them as “Get Out of Jail Free” cards.

These are business cards doled out by various law enforcement officers to relatives, friends, and sometimes, just people they meet.

They generally show the name of the officer and his, or her, association – a police department, a sheriff’s office or a police union like the PBA or FOP.

These cards have one overriding purpose – to help a driver avoid getting a ticket.

A driver who is stopped by the cops shows, say, a PBA card, and is often on his way, no further action required.

There’s nothing new about this.

Nonetheless, the state’s Comptroller’s Office just produced a report highlighting and criticizing the practice.

Here’s how the executive summary of the report began:

“The New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) examined over 500 motor vehicle stops conducted by New Jersey State Police (NJSP) that ended with no enforcement. OSC looked at body-worn camera footage of stops that are rarely, if ever, watched – stops where tickets were not given, arrests were not made, and no one was even ordered to exit their vehicle.”

Hmm. Why was that?

Simple. The drivers had a police “Get Out of Jail Free” card.

“Sometimes, the motorist boldly handed over a courtesy card,” the report said with some degree of naivety. It then added that:

“The stop resolved relatively quickly with the trooper offering some version of ‘you’re good,'”

The report presented a number of video exchanges to prove the point.

Viewers saw a guy stopped for speeding who admitted to having “two glasses” of alcohol. No detail on what his drink actually was.

But after showing the trooper “his card,” he was told to move on. It is true that the trooper warned him not to speed after drinking on “my highway” again, but the driver was not ticketed.

Another video showed a woman stopped for driving in excess of 100 miles per hour. She proved to the trooper that her father was a police lieutenant and did not get a ticket.

“In short, this two-tiered system of justice that provides differing treatment for those with law enforcement connections and those without is unethical, discriminatory, and fundamentally unfair. It also contributes to making New Jersey roads less safe,” the report said.

It’s hard to argue with that conclusion.

The report, most seriously, noted that courtesy cards benefitted motorists suspected of serious offenses – like driving drunk.

Years ago, at least, the unwritten rule of thumb was that PBA cards worked only for such things as speeding or ignoring a Stop Sign.

Among the reforms recommended by the Comptroller are explicit orders to police not to consider any law enforcement cards when stopping a motorist. And then there is this:

“The Legislature should strongly consider whether to institute fines or other penalties for the distribution by sale or gift of any courtesy card or membership card, shield, or other device, where it can be reasonably inferred by the recipient that display of the item will have the result that the law will be enforced less rigorously.”

In plain language, that suggests a police officer could be fined or disciplined for handing out a business or PBA card.

Excuse the cynicism, but does anyone think that’s going to happen?

Follow New Jersey politics for a while and you learn that the distribution of “Get Out of Jail Free” cards is as common as high property taxes and the luxury of not pumping your own gas.

Hard to see that changing,