More Sneaky Tricks From The NYPD

Operation Lucky Bag is a deceptive name for a new type of sting set up by the New York Police Department. There is no luck involved here, if anything it would be bad luck to be associated with this, like what happened to Carlos Alayo. Being a Good Samaritan, he intended to try and take the wallet he found on a subway bench to the rightful owner, but the cops caught up to him first.

From WCBS-TV:

The 32-year-old had been ensnared in Operation Lucky Bag, an initiative from the New York City Police Department to lay decoys—shopping bags, purses, backpacks or wallets—around the subway system under the watchful gaze of officers who wait to see what passersby will do.

The decoys often contain real credit cards issued under pseudonyms to the police department. Theft of a credit card is grand larceny, a felony that could lead to jail time.[...]

The New York Civil Liberties Union said the decoy tactic could deter people from being good Samaritans and should be abandoned.

"I'm sure the NYPD has far more sophisticated tactics at their disposal than dropping wallets on their trains," said NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman.

How this waste of time could possibly reduce crime is beyond me. Like The NYCLU spokeswoman said, the NYPD must have better ways of catching criminals than this. Police decoys may work to catch drug dealers and child predators, but to use it to catch burglars on the G train is just nuts.