On a street in Harlem, a New York Police Department officer sees a line of cars in front of him and can’t help himself. First, he sits idle, acting as if nothing is happening — because nothing, in fact, is happening. The stoplight in front of him is red, cars are patiently waiting, an e-bicycle whizzes by. A pedestrian looks both ways and crosses unremarkably.

That’s when something strange occurs. The officer inches his Ford Police Interceptor Utility — bearing the words “COURTESY”, “PROFESSIONALISM” and “RESPECT” on the rear door — forward. He turns on his lights and dials up his choice of electronic siren. A quick whoop. A prolonged “bluuuuurrrppppprp.” A startling, pulsating, laser gun-sputtering sound. The cop car edges out over the crosswalk, then accelerates. As soon as he does, the sirens abruptly cease, like a fire alarm after a drill. The lights cut off. And the car is on to the next intersection. Inevitably, the police cruiser coasts through that red light too, nearly running over an auntie dressed in her Sunday best, who stops just in time not to become an afterthought.

Where the NYPD is headed in that moment is not immediately clear; it seldom is. Just ask your average New York City resident. What is obvious, however, is that, whatever his destination, the officer didn’t want to wait.

The worst-kept secret in New York is also one of its most bizarre and frequent happenings: The NYPD runs red lights in obviously non-emergency situations all the time.

The scene I just described was just an average Sunday uptown around brunch o’clock. But it might as well have been in Bed–Stuy during school pick-up or in Parkchester on a Saturday morning. I’ve seen cops run lights so many times I’ve lost count. And the more I talk to people, the more I’ve discovered how prevalent the practice is.

Stories abound. A parent at a party recounted a cop pulling out into an intersection against the light and nearly hitting a kid who had the right of way. Another person told me that officers at a red light near a church blurped the car in front of them, waiting patiently at a red. When the driver didn’t respond, one of the officers hopped on his intercom: “Just go through,” he instructed, assuring them that it was OK. The driver obliged, perhaps thinking it was an emergency. The cop car drove through. As soon as he was on his way, the car lights and sirens turned off.

I asked Gersh Kuntzman, editor of Streetsblog NYC and a vigilante corrector of illegal license plates and parking placards on the streets of New York, when he first saw a cop run a red. “It’s like saying, do you remember the first time you had a slice of pizza,” Kuntzman said. “It happens every day.”

Kuntzman, a street safety advocate who has for years documented the NYPD’s lawless driving behavior, told me nothing surprises him anymore. He has chronicled police parking habits — inspiring academic studies on the subject — and

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