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Videos released by a New Jersey government watchdog have pierced a veil of secrecy around cards that can be used to avoid traffic tickets.
Dec. 18, 2024, 9:53 a.m. ET
The credit-card size documents are known by many names: police courtesy cards, gold cards or family cards. They are distributed by law enforcement officers and their unions to a favored few and are flashed by drivers hoping for leniency when stopped for traffic violations.
The arrangement has long been part of a largely unspoken code.
But a report released Wednesday by a New Jersey government watchdog has for the first time pierced a well-guarded veil of secrecy around the cards and the surprising scope of their power.
The report grew out of an analysis of 50 hours of video footage from body-worn cameras during traffic stops made by New Jersey State Police troopers in December 2022. It found a “two-tiered system of justice” with differing treatment for those with law enforcement connections and for those without.
“A lot of what we saw was really brazen and obvious,” said Kevin Walsh, New Jersey’s acting comptroller, who conducted the study. “Drivers thought they would be treated with deference once they showed that they were part of the club.”
In most cases, the cards worked.
More than a quarter of the 501 motorists who drove off without receiving tickets after being pulled over by a State Police trooper during a 10-day period either flashed a courtesy card or told the officer that they knew someone in law enforcement, the investigation found.
The phenomenon is not unique to New Jersey. The cards are common in many states, including New York, where a New York Police Department officer was awarded $175,000 in a legal settlement this year after he said he was punished for refusing to give a break to a driver who showed him a courtesy card.
