NYPD cracks down on marijuana possession in NYC, sees big uptick in arrests for carry

[Weird]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-continues-arrest-black-hispanic-people-article-1.2656940

Arrests for pot possession rose more than a third in the first three months of this year, according to a report released Wednesday — even though the NYPD had promised in 2014 it was going to ease up on marijuana collars.
The NYPD nabbed 4,225 people for pot possession between January and March, according to state data released Wednesday by the Police Reform Organizing Project. That’s a sharp increase from the 2,960 arrested during the corresponding period last year, the report said.
An abrupt drop in pot possession arrests in early 2015 was due to a historic change in NYPD policy.
On Nov. 11, 2014, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton announced that people caught with less than 25 grams of marijuana would no longer be arrested, effective immediately. Instead, they were to be issued a noncriminal violation in the form of a summons. Repeat offenders would get a fine. Anyone caught smoking on the street, however, would still wind up in jail, Bratton cautioned.
Peter Liang's guilt is undeniable
“It’s still against the law. I’m not giving out get-out-of-jail-for-free cards,” he said in 2014.
The impact of the new law was seen right away. During the first three months of 2014 — before the law was changed — there were 7,111 pot possession arrests in the city. That was far more than the 2,960 over the same three months a year later.
Overall, in 2014, there were 26,112 pot arrests. That number dropped to 16,030 a year later under the relaxed policy, according to City Hall. At the same time, summonses jumped to 17,858 — up from 13,378 in 2014.
The NYPD’s updated stats show there were 9,786 pot arrests from Jan. 1 to May 31 of this year — compared to 8,007 for the same period in 2015.

 

[armedoldhippy]

are they cracking down, or are there that many more folks walking around with weed & this is pushing the numbers up? interesting to know if the usual racial disparity in arrests is still holding true as well...

 

[Chunkypigs]

cops listened to the mayor for a few months now they resume the previously scheduled drug war.

 

[VonBudí]

http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetrut...ames-majority-of-citys-violence-on-marijuana/

NYPD commissioner blames majority of city’s violence on marijuana
By Oscar Pascual on May 24, 2016 at 11:28 AM


New York Police Chief Bill Bratton is blaming pot for the city’s problem with crime and violence.

In a local radio show interview over the weekend, Bratton claimed that marijuana was responsible for the “vast majority” of violence in New York City, and questioned why states continue to create cannabis law reform, the New York Post reports.

According to Bratton:

“Interestingly enough here in New York City, most of the violence we see — violence around drug trafficking — is involving marijuana. Here in New York the violence we see associated with drugs, the vast majority of it, is around marijuana, which is ironic considering the explosion in the use of heroin now in the city.”

“I have to scratch my head as we are seeing many states wanting to legalize marijuana, or more liberalization of policies,” Bratton added.

Bratton’s claims don’t seem to carry any true clout, as repeated studies have shown that marijuana use is not correlated with acts of violence, and that legalization could actually lead to a decrease in violent criminal acts.

“It appears that finding marijuana on the scene of a violent crime is enough for Bratton to assert a causal link. Using that rationale, we can make other causal links to violence – for instance, if police find a cell phone at the scene of a violent crime, then certainly the cell phone must cause that crime,” said Gabriel Sayegh of the Drug Policy Alliance in a statement to ThinkProgress.

Bratton’s attitude towards marijuana legalization is not shared by California law enforcement agencies such as the Oakland Police Department, which has made pot enforcement the lowest priority under Measure Z. Moreover, San Francisco’s District Attorney and former police chief George Gascon is in support of AUMA, California’s upcoming ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana.

“That has to count as one of the most clueless statements on drug policy by a prominent public figure since Hillary Clinton declared that drugs are too profitable to be legalized,” wrote Reason columnist Jacoob Sullum in a recent blog post. “Like Clinton, Bratton is presenting an argument for legalization as an argument against it.”

 

[stoned-trout]

just say no to new York...yeehaw...place is a shithole anyhow except for upstate...I hate that city...and fuck Hillary ..she is here in SD at balboa park giving a speech

 

[CosmicGiggle]

I think it's a manifestation of the current breakdown of society and the end of western civilization as we know it.

Add climate change to the mess and the problem will soon solve itself!