It's high time for a change in how the NYPD deals with pot possession.
City cops will stop arresting people on low-level marijuana charges and issue tickets instead, a police source said Monday.
The change in policy is expected to be announced by Mayor de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton at an afternoon press conference, the source said.
There has been a growing pressure on law enforcement to curb arrests for small amounts of marijuana because they are disproportionately made in black and Hispanic communities.
According to the Marijuana Arrest Research Project, blacks and Hispanics represented 86% of those arrested for marijuana possession in the city in the first eight months of the year. Studies have shown that whites are equally as likely to use the drug.
The reform policy was embraced by Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson during his 2013 campaign for office. He promised to fine those arrested with small amounts of marijuana rather than put them in cuffs and charge them.
'Too many young people are being arrested for low-level drug charges that leave a permanent stain on their records for what should be a violation,' Thompson had said.
The de Blasio administration has been slow to warm up to the policy, but Bratton has spoken recently about handling some minor criminal offenses without making arrests.
Bratton has come under criticism in the wake of a Staten Island suspect's death as cops arrested him for selling untaxed cigarettes. Critics said it showed the flaws in the Broken Windows policy of aggressively targeting low-level crime. Eric Garner died in a police chokehold on July 17 and the city medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
It wasn't immediately clear exactly how much pot would be considered criminal.
tmoore@nydailynews.com
from Google News http://#
via IFTTT
0 Response to "NYPD to stop arresting for minor marijuana possession, will issue tickets instead"
Posting Komentar