At least one NYPD officer has taken his department's elaborate spying program to heart: eight-year NYPD veteran Miguel Gomez was arrested on Friday and charged with using a surveillance camera to spy on a young woman in his apartment building. According police sources cited by the New York Daily News, Officer Gomez used the camera to track his 21-year-old neighbor's activities, including when she would enter and leave their building.
The same police source said it was unlikely Gomez was using any of the NYPD's technology: "If he did, he would definitely face additional charges," the source told the Daily News.
While there's been no official statement yet on the arrest, at least one person is sticking up for Gomez: his mother:
"My son is a very good boy and wouldn't do a thing like that," Juliana Gomez, 67, told the Daily News Saturday night, and refused to answer follow-up questions.
As DNA Info notes, the arrest took part during a particularly bad weekend for the NYPD; Gomez was just one of five NYPD employees – including three cops – arrested in two days. Two other police officers were arrested for drunk driving on Sunday, a traffic cop was found with stolen belongings and fake guns in her trunk on Friday, and an administrative aide in the department was charged Saturday with possession of a controlled substance.
[via Daily Intelligencer/Image via Shutterstock]