Brooklyn DA Dismisses Over 140K Summons Warrants

BROOKLYN, NY — Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez on Wednesday vacated summons warrants for more than 140,000 Brooklyners, a move he says will protect people who committed small, nonviolent infractions a long time ago.

Gonzalez joined district attorneys from Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens in vacating a total of nearly 645,000 such warrants.

"Today, we took an important step in showing our commitment to improved relations between law enforcement and the community, and our focus on violent crimes instead of petty offenses," Gonzalez said in a statement. "This action allows us, the courts and the NYPD to divert resources away from low-level warrants and towards serious offenses."

Gonzalez said most of the summonses that were dismissed had been issued to black and Latino people. They were originally issued for infractions such as riding a bicycle on the sidewalk, drinking beer in public, disorderly conduct and being in a park after dark.

They would have subjected offenders to an arrest at a traffic stop or when being stopped by police on the street.

"My Office has been spearheading the effort to address the crisis of outstanding summons warrants through our Begin Again program and I am gratified that we were able to significantly slash the backlog today in a way that enhances public safety and promotes fairness," Gonzalez said.

(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)