The ABCs of PBA Cards
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,
Courtesy cards have been around for as long as I can remember. I have been driving over 50 years, and even my father had courtesy cards. It’s a staple in New Jersey and it will never go away. It’s a good faith cooperation between the State Police and the community. Yes, some people abuse it, but most others do not. I’ve only had to show my courtesy card once in my lifetime and I forgot I even had it. It was stuck to the back of my driver’s license and when the State Police officer saw it, he told me to slow down–on Rt. 80. I was doing 75 in a 55 at the time, in the traffic flow.
Horrible article. “because they have the card” Not giving the full details that of the 500 stops, 375 of them did NOT have a card, yet were still let go without any enforcement. Essentially, the state is trying to get rid of Officers discretion.. that ALL officers in the country have legally. The card itself simply lets an officer know the person pulled over is more likely to cooperate with them as they have personal relationships with someone in LE. Which psychologically would put an officer at more ease during a stop because of how dangerous they can possibly be. In essence making them more likely to use discretion because of the card making them feel more at ease. You are NOT getting out of a legit DUI or CRIME with a card. Regular or gold card. If you wanna get rid of discretion then everyone would be getting a ticket every time they get pulled over. Warnings wont exist anymore.
Lemme hook you up with one Snowflake. 😂😂😂
MC makes an excellent. The card shows the person who shows it will be very cooperative with the officer, which can put them at ease, for this is a most vulnerable situation for law enforcement!
New Jersey has a knack for interfering with law enforcement, more so than with criminals!
Years ago, a Courier Post reporter, back when it was an actual paper, tried keeping up with NJ state senator Wayne Bryant on various roadways over the course of the afternoon and had great difficulty. I guess those state senate license plates helped-no PBA/STAFA cards needed. How about those camera radar thingies that caught too many officials doing wrong and were removed? Yeah, I imagine there is some courtesy given to those cards and no one is equal under the law. Why don’t we get the state budget under control, the school budgets under control and providing a good outcome for what is spent-we should start with the raw materials, kids, first, then offer a slide rule or a shovel to set them on their career path.
So we have to allow everyone the opportunity to fund the overbloated state government by doing away with these cards? Would that apply to elected state officials and appointed ones that might abuse their authority? I doubt it. We already have a two tiered system where who you know gets to off so why not extend that to the common person who may be stopped for some minor offense and have to pay thousands of dollars in higher insurance premiums? Cracked down on drunk drivers sure but lets give the little guy a break once in awhile.