Following a three-year probe by the Bronx District Attorney’s office into alleged ticket fixing practices inside the NYPD, 16 Bronx police officers and five civilians were indicted by a grand jury last week.

More than a thousand members of the city’s police department jammed the sidewalk outside of the Bronx Hall of Justice last Friday morning in defense of most of the officers implicated, saying ticket fixing has been a “professional courtesy” accepted by all levels of the police force since “the days of the Egyptians.”

The 100-page indictment, unsealed on Friday, Oct. 28, lists 1,600 criminal charges against those implicated. It’s the final result of a well-publicized, three-year criminal investigation that began with a probe into an alleged business relationship between one officer and a reputed south Bronx drug dealer, but which soon expanded to reveal much more widespread corruption, according to the Bronx District Attorney’s office.

One of the indicted officers, Michael Hernandez, hails from the 52nd Precinct, which covers the entire Norwood News coverage area.

Officials say the investigation included court-ordered wiretaps on more than 10,000 calls and dozens of telephone lines that revealed “an organized and wide-scale practice of ‘fixing’ parking and traffic tickets and criminal and other summonses,” a statement said.

Other crimes described in the indictment include the sale and distribution of drugs, weapons, and counterfeit DVDs, as well as officers who allegedly allowed criminal suspects to go free, and the supposed cover-up of an assault incident. Another officer stands accused of “outing” a confidential source.

Hernandez, a 35-year-old trustee with the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the department’s largest union, faces 133 criminal counts, including criminal solicitation, tampering with public records and grand larceny.

“Those actions – crimes under the law – can’t be glossed over as ‘courtesies’ or as part of an acceptable culture. They are not,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said during a press conference Friday. “Those who try to rationalize them as such are kidding themselves, especially if they think the public finds it acceptable. Members of the public don’t accept favoritism. They resent it, as well they should. The public entrusts to police officers special authority, and that trust must not be violated.”

Bail for Jose Ramos, the officer who was the target of the original investigation, was set at $500,000. The majority of the other officers were released on their own recognizance, and are due back in court in January.

Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) spoke to the media on behalf of the cops who had gathered at the courthouse.

“We are by no means here to defend a drug dealer,” he said, referring to Ramos. “What we are here for today is the fact that a courtesy has now turned into a crime,” he continued, adding that the practice of squashing tickets was “accepted at all ranks for decades.”

“This all comes about because of the constant pressure, the constant push for numbers, numbers, numbers,” Lynch said, prompting a roar of applause from the crowd of cops gathered around him.

The scene was tense outside the courthouse, on East 161st Street, as the police officers who came to lend their support faced off against a small group of chanting civilians.

“It’s a double standard. They should be indicted!” yelled Soundview resident Terril Stroud. A group of cops, in response, started chanting, “Get a job!”

“I wouldn’t get bail, and they won’t go to jail for an hour,” Stroud said. “I think it’s an ongoing tradition with officers giving courtesies to other officers, but if I get a ticket, no one’s going to give me a courtesy. Do you think that’s fair?”