The NYPD is Running Stings Against Immigrant-Owned Shops, Then Pushing For Warrantless Searches

“It was total entrapment,” says one storeowner.

by Sarah Ryley for ProPublica and the New York Daily News

An undercover NYPD officer entered the spotless Super Laundromat & Dry Cleaners in Inwood, a largely Dominican neighborhood at the northernmost tip of Manhattan. He made his rounds through the store, hawking what he said were stolen gadgets — an iPhone, iPad Mini and iPad.

One man took the bait, agreeing to shell out $200 for all three. He was arrested during the May 2013 sting, and the trouble seemed to end there.