This lap dance performance earned a gold award.
In order to commemorate rookie NYPD officer Vera Mekuli’s controversial lap dance for a married lieutenant at the 44th Precinct’s 2021 holiday party, a “challenge coin” was created.
On one side of the coin are the inscriptions “NYPD XXX-Mas Party 2021” and “Cumming home late,” along with an image of two ladies wearing Santa hats who appear to be strippers. The opposite side features a stripper and the phrases “Rookie of the Year” and “In the Line of Booty” — a copy of The Post’s headline about the inebriated party.
The Post viewed photographs of the coin. It is unknown who manufactured it, whether it was sold, and for how much.
These collector coins represent police precincts or divisions, show an inside joke, or commemorate events such as the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. A commemorative NYPD Counterterrorism Division coin recently sold for $29 on eBay.
Michael Alcazar, a veteran NYPD investigator and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, stated, “Usually they’re done nicely.” I believe this would be humiliating and demeaning to other police personnel, particularly a female police commissioner.
Alcazar further stated that the lap dance currency undermined the efforts of female police personnel. It is quite terrible. You have your first female commissioner, and this entire process is being overseen by her.”
The 27-year-old Mekuli did not respond to a request for comment on the currency.
In May, Mekuli was suspended for raising a fuss about the arrest of a cousin.
She has scarcely ever avoided the spotlight. Last month, she conducted a racy picture shoot on Instagram while dressed as the comic book villain Harley Quinn. She then laughed as she displayed a copy of The Post containing her photo.
In her most recent Instagram image, dated Thursday, Mekuli poses in her NYPD uniform. She captioned it “Hold on a second… You thought I was done, didn’t you?” She added an emoji of a smiling face with a hand covering its mouth.
Mekuli was suspended in May for making a disturbance over the New Jersey DUI arrest of a relative. However, she remains assigned to the 44th Precinct in the Bronx, according to a statement released by the NYPD earlier this month.
Mekuli is still assigned to the Bronx’s 44th Precinct.
Concerning the challenge coin, the department did not respond to a request for comment.
»Commemorative coin commemorates Vera Mekuli’s lap dance during a rowdy holiday party«