Pot Arrests in NYC Down By Forty Percent
Decrease a direct result of Mayor de Blasio's ticketing policy that was enacted in 2014
Decrease a direct result of Mayor de Blasio's ticketing policy that was enacted in 2014
As of October 20, arrests for minor Cannabis possession in New York City have decreased by forty percent in the past year, a statistic that was first reported by the New York Post. The same figures that exposed the decrease also revealed a disparity between boroughs in both arrests and tickets.
Last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that cops in the city had more pressing concerns than minor pot violations and as such would be refraining from arresting such offenders, instead labeling personal possession, for example, worthy of no more than the equivalent of a parking ticket. In addition to valuable resources being freed up as a result of switching from arrests to tickets, revenue would be generated by the revised system and, perhaps most importantly, minor offenders would avoid a criminal record and the resulting drug sentence sanctions.
After a press from both legislators and voters for pot decriminalization, City Hall ordered the New York City Police Department to issue tickets to those caught with twenty-five grams or fewer, in lieu of placing them under arrest.
According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice, the police arrested 18,120 marijuana lawbreakers through October 20, a forty-percent drop from 29,906 during the same period in 2014.
Naturally, however, the number of tickets and summonses issued has increased since last year, as an ever-increasing portion of the population choose to use recreational Cannabis. Throughout the end of last month, police issued 13,081 tickets and, at this pace, will likely distribute upwards of 16,000 additional tickets throughout the end of 2015.
During 2014, the New York Police Department handed out 13,378 marijuana-related tickets; the year before, in 2013, the NYPD only issued 13,316.
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