NYPD have reported a ‘slowdown’ on tickets issued for New Year “low-level crimes”.
The Guardian reports:
NYPD officers did not issue a single ticket for crimes such as having an open container of alcohol, public urination or double parking, the Associated Press reported. That night, there was just one low-level arrest made – it was related to an offense on the subway.
The shocking statistic is just one example of the recent “slowdown” in police activity implemented by officers unhappy with the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, over his apparent support for recent protests against perceived police brutality, especially against blacks and Latinos, and for saying he has instructed his biracial son to be careful around police.
The dramatic drop in low-level arrests and tickets, especially for summonses issued for minor traffic offences or offences such as marijuana possession or jumping the barriers at subway stations, reportedly began in the days after two police officers were shot dead while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn on 20 December.
The most recent figures available from the NYPD, for the week between 29 December and 4 January, showed summonses for parking and moving violations down around 92% from the same period a year before, and criminal summonses down 91.5%. That means summonses went from 4,077 in the first week of 2014 to just 347 in the first week of 2015.
These drops in low-level crime arrests appear to be a good thing for New Yorkers. According to The New York Post:
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- [The slowdown] has helped contribute to a nose dive in low-level policing, with overall arrests down 66 percent for the week starting Dec. 22 compared with the same period in 2013, stats show.
- Citations for traffic violations fell by 94 percent, from 10,069 to 587, during that time frame.
- Summonses for low-level offenses like public drinking and urination also plunged 94 percent—from 4,831 to 300.
- Even parking violations are way down, dropping by 92 percent, from 14,699 to 1,241.
- Drug arrests by cops assigned to the NYPD’s Organized Crime Control Bureau—which are part of the overall number—dropped by 84 percent, from 382 to 63.
