Marijuana Enforcement In NYC To Be Overhauled By NYPD

NEW YORK, NY — The NYPD will review its approach to enforcing marijuana laws in New York City amid persistent criticism over wide racial disparities in arrests for pot-related crimes. A working group comprising police leadership will examine how the department treats people caught carrying small amounts of marijuana or smoking it in public, Police Commissioner James O'Neill said Tuesday.

The move comes amid a push to ease consequences, borne disproportionately by people of color, for possession of a drug that's legal in nine states. Some 86 percent of people arrested on marijuana charges last year were black or Latino even though all racial groups use the drug at similar rates, officials have said.

The working group will consult advocates, academics, prosecutors, defense attorneys and Mayor Bill de Blasio's Office of Criminal Justice to determine how to enforce marijuana laws equitably without sacrificing public safety, the NYPD said.

"(T)here are differences in arrest rates, and they have persisted going back many years, long before this current Administration," O'Neill said in a statement. "We need an honest assessment about why they exist, and balance it in the context of the public safety needs of all communities."

Police are cuffing fewer people than they were four years ago when the most serious charge is marijuana-related, but the NYPD now wants to "address public concerns in the fairest way possible, while also promoting public safety and quality of life for all New Yorkers," O'Neill added.

Since 2014, police have generally issued summonses to people caught with 25 grams of marijuana, with certain exceptions, but continued to arrest people caught smoking in public.

Rev. Al Sharpton and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson led a chorus of advocates and lawmakers Tuesday in calling on the NYPD to stop making arrests for lighting up in public — which accounts for the vast majority of marijuana arrests — and give out summonses instead.

Doing so, they argued, would blunt the impact of continuing racial disparities in low-level marijuana enforcement as state officials consider legalizing the drug altogether.

"The arrest itself has impact on one's trying to conduct their lives that a summons doesn't," Sharpton said. "So it's a step in the right direction, but it's by no means the end goal."

Police officials have said residents' 911 and 311 complaints, as well as reports at local community meetings, are a major driver of marijuana enforcement. But several analyses, including the City Council's own, have found the explanation doesn't add up.

Cops arrest more people for marijuana offenses in predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods than in mostly white areas where residents complain about the drug at similar rates.

For example, the 76th Precinct covering Red Hook, Brooklyn saw 246 pot arrests and 88 complaints about the drug to 911 and 311. By contrast, the 100th Precinct in southern Queens, which is more predominantly white, saw 113 complaints but just 22 arrests.

"If you are black and smoke marijuana, you go to jail, and if you are white and smoke marijuana, you still go to Yale," said Councilman Donovan Richards, (D-Queens), who chairs the Committee on Public Safety.

Current NYPD policy lets cops cuff people caught with marijuana who have warrants out for their arrest or who aren't able to provide identification. Johnson said it may make sense for such arrests to continue, depending on the crime for which the person is wanted, even if police decide to give summonses for smoking in public.

The NYPD's pledge to review its pot policies came within hours of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.'s announcement that his office will not prosecute marijuana possession or smoking cases starting in August.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez also said Tuesday that his office would stop prosecuting most cases of marijuana smoking. The Brooklyn DA's office says it stopped prosecuting low-level pot possesion cases in 2014.

"The dual mission of the Manhattan D.A.'s Office is a safer New York and a more equal justice system," Vance said in a statement. "The ongoing arrest and criminal prosecution of predominantly black and brown New Yorkers for smoking marijuana serves neither of these goals."

(Lead image: Photo from Shutterstock)