The NYC police department has, apparently, solved all crime within its jurisdiction.  This must be true in order for them to have turned their attention towards good Samaritans, making them the latest criminals in the city.

The scam involves the police leaving valuable items, such as backpacks, purses, and wallets, in plain view.  Once someone picks it up and walks past a uniformed officer, they swoop in and arrest the unsuspecting Samaritans, assuming that they are going to steal the item because they didn’t turn it in to the officer.

Because the theft of a credit card is grand larceny, a Class E felony, those convicted could face sentences of up to four years. The charges in the first round of Operation Lucky Bag were nearly all petty larceny, a misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of one year in jail.

When Lucky Bag began in February 2006, among its first 220 arrests were about 100 people who had prior charges and convictions. Police officials said those arrests helped drive down crime in the subways by about 13 percent.

However, more than half of those 220 involved people with no prior criminal record. In dismissing one case, a Brooklyn judge noted that the law gives people 10 days to turn in property they find, and suggested the city had enough real crime for the police to fight without any need to provide fresh temptations. The penal law also does not require that found items be turned over to a police officer. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office began to dismiss Lucky Bag charges.

So, penal law actually states that a person doesn’t have to turn over the items to the police and that you have ten days to return what you find to its rightful owner.  So, tell me again, why are the police even allowed to conduct themselves in such a manner?

According to the Law of Unintended Consequences, the police are conditioning people not to pick up random objects lying around.  Instead, they are teaching people is that no one should be a good Samaritan, and they should place their trust in law enforcement for everything.