A street cop who ordered a Sabbath-observant jaywalker to write his name during Shabbat has been transferred from his Midwood beat, according to Councilman David Greenfield of Brooklyn.
The incident took place on Nov. 28th, when Rabbi Shalom Emer was returning from synagogue and crossed Kings Highway. The rabbi claims the cop, whose name has not been released by the NYPD, ordered him to write his name because he was not carrying identification. Facing arrest, the rabbi reluctantly complied.
A police source confirmed the transfer to The Jewish Week and said the officer was now working in northern Manhattan, while the incident was still under investigation.
“I think it is appropriate that this police officer was transferred out of a precinct with one of the lowest crime rates in the city, to a precinct with one of the highest,” Greenfield said in a statement. “Surely, at his new precinct, he will make good use of his crime-fighting skills." The councilman said the offense was the only jaywalking summons issued in that precinct this year.
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