The New York City Police Department has decided to take advantage of the "RECESSION" and has resorted to primitive and barbaric tactics to "ENTRAP" poor Black and Latino people

• Associated Press/Seth Wenig - In this Monday, April 8, 2013 photo, Deirdre Myers poses for a picture near her home in New York. Police took Myers and her teen daughter into custody in 2010 in what's known as …more 

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NEW YORK (AP) — Sometimes the bait is a small amount of cash in a stray wallet. Or a credit card. Even a pack of cigarettes can do the trick.

Police in New York City leave the items unattended — on subway platforms, on park benches, in cars — and wait to see if someone grabs them.

The New York Police Department says the practice has been a valuable tool for catching career criminals and deterring thefts in public places. But a recent court ruling throwing out a larceny case against a Bronx woman cast a harsh light on a tactic critics say too often sweeps up innocent people.

Judge Linda Poust Lopez found that there was no proof Deirdre Myers tried to steal anything — and that she was framed by a sting that took the tactic way too far.