Dec 2011:  NOT MUCH CHANGE

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Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly

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NYPD's marijuana arrests continue

This round of stories began on December 7, 2011. Breaking its decade-long pattern of never initiating news about the city's marijuana arrests, the NYPD released marijuana arrest figures to two national wire services: Associated Press and Reuters. Many other news reports followed, some based on data obtained directly from the NY State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

The news stories all told some of the basic facts about the NYPD's marijuana arrests and, contrary to the NYPD's assertions, suggested that not much had changed.  Some accurately pointed out that the NYPD had actually made more marijuana possession arrests by mid-November 2011 than by mid-November of 2010, and more than for all of 2009.  In short, despite the small, brief drop in the number of arrests, the NYPD was on track to make 50,000 marijuana possession arrests in 2011.

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The Associated Press / NY Daily News, "Cops not so hot to arrest for pot"  Dec. 07, 2011

Arrests for low-level pot possession dropped in the weeks after Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly warned cops not to bust people for small amounts of the drug found in pockets or bags, according to new data released Wednesday.  Kelly issued the internal order Sept. 19 after claims that officers were wrongly arresting people....

There are more arrests on the pot charge — about 50,000 a year — than any other crime in New York City, accounting for about one of every seven cases that turn up in criminal courts. Critics say the numbers are driven in part by the department’s strategy of stopping and frisking people who meet crime suspects’ descriptions. More than 450,000 people, mostly black and Hispanic men, were stopped so far this year, unfair targets, critics say. About 10% of stops result in arrests. But instead of finding weapons when pockets or bags are turned out, critics say, officers more often find pot and wrongly make arrests.

In the nine weeks after the directive, there were 7,925 arrests, or 13% fewer than the same period last year....  Before the order, arrests were up 5% at 37,816. It’s not clear if the figure would remain on the decline.

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Reuters, "Marijuana arrests fall in New York after rule change"  by Edith Honan, Dec 7, 2011

New York City police made 1,190 fewer marijuana arrests since Commissioner Raymond Kelly's September 19 directive, compared to the same nine-week period a year ago, spokesman Paul Browne said.

A coalition of groups that has criticized the police force for its aggressive approach to marijuana possession called the numbers a "disappointing drop" and said New York City remains the "marijuana arrest capital of the world."

"Unfortunately, these figures are cause for outrage, not celebration," Gabriel Sayegh of the Drug Policy Alliance said in a statement. "In this economy, Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD are wasting millions of tax dollars by using illegal searches and false charges to sweep tens of thousands of black and Latino youth into the criminal justice system.

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WNYC, "Marijuana Arrests Dip After NYPD Order, But Allegations of Improper Arrests Continue" by Ailsa Chang, Dec 08, 2011

According to state records, the police department is actually on track to make another 50,000 marijuana arrests in 2011, close to last year’s record total. Marijuana arrest data for this year is available from the state only up until November 18. By that date, the NYPD had made more marijuana arrests this year than they had by that date last year.

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Source: WNYC with Highcharts / Drawn by John Keefe /

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"Low-Level Pot Arrests Decrease Slightly After NYPD Order"  by Ben Yakas, The Gotamist, Dec 8, 2011  

In the wake of NYC being controversially labelled the low-level pot arrest capital of the world, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly released a memo in September sternly reminding his officers to stop falsely charging people for possessing marijuana in public view if individuals removed it from their pocket under the order of a police officer. Since that memo was released, marijuana arrests have dropped 13 percent. But advocates say that isn't enough, and that the NYPD still hasn't come close to addressing the other systematic problems.

According to NYPD stats, there were 1,190 fewer arrests made in the nine weeks since the order, compared with the same period a year earlier—but there were still nearly 8,000 people arrests for pot in that period. In addition, the city is still on track to make another 50,000 marijuana arrests in 2011, close to last year’s record total.

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"Police Commissioner's Order Was Not Enough: NYPD Continues to Make Thousands of Illegal, Racially Biased Pot Arrests"  by Gabriel Sayegh, Alternet, Dec 8, 2011

While arrests have dropped ever so slightly since Police Commissioner Kelly issued his order, the NYPD is still using stop-and-frisk to make thousands of unwarranted pot arrests.

Last September, in the face of rising pressure to end racially biased, illegal and costly marijuana arrests in NYC – which have skyrocketed to more than 50,000 annually – NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly issued an uncharacteristically stern order to officers, directing them to follow the state’s existing decriminalization law. But new data released this week show that while arrests have dropped ... 13% since Kelly issued his order, NYPD is continuing with its marijuana arrest crusade....  As of November 18, 2011, the NYPD made more marijuana possession arrests than by November 18 in 2010. By the end of the year, the NYPD is likely to have made 50,000 of the arrests, further establishing the city's position as the marijuana arrest capital of the world.

These marijuana arrests are just one of the problematic outcomes of NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk program. Last year, NYPD stopped more than 600,000 people – mostly young black and Latino men – and frisked nearly half of them. For many people, a frisk soon turns into an illegal search. For others, the police ask them to empty their pockets, and, after following police instructions, they are then charged with possession of marijuana in public view – which is a misdemeanor and an arrestable offense. While the Kelly order directed police to stop this practice, the ugly cycle continues largely unabated , at a cost of over $75 million a year....  Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD are wasting millions of tax dollars by using illegal searches and false charges to sweep tens of thousands of black and Latino youth into the criminal justice system.

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"NYPD Pot Arrests Habit Proves Tough to Break," American Civil Liberties Union, Dec 8, 2011

The NYPD has a pot problem. For more than a decade, its officers have made a massive habit of unlawfully arresting New Yorkers for carrying small amounts of marijuana in their pockets or bags. It’s proving to be a tough habit to break, despite NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly’s recent acknowledgment of the problem.

NYPD officers make more arrests for pot possession, than for any other charge — 100,000 arrests in the last two years alone. More than 350,000 people — overwhelmingly black and Latino — have been wrongfully arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession in the city since 2002. These arrests can carry grave consequences — costing people employment opportunities, public housing benefits and disrupting their educations.

The arrests occur despite the fact that possessing a small amount of marijuana is not a crime in New York unless it is in public view. If you’re caught with some pot in your pocket, you can be ticketed, but not arrested. The cops get around the law by ordering, tricking or forcing people into exposing their pot and then arresting them for having marijuana in open sight. The New York Civil Liberties Union, along with the ACLU, advocated against this end run around the law. We applauded this September when Commissioner Kelly ordered his officers to end the practice.

In the months since Kelly’ directive, marijuana arrests have declined 13 percent. Our reaction to this news is twofold: First, it serves as Exhibit A that the NYPD was illegally arresting New Yorkers for minor amounts of marijuana. Second, while it’s good to see the arrest numbers decline, 13 percent isn’t nearly enough of a drop. Clearly, the NYPD needs to commit more resources to training and monitoring officers to finally end the marijuana-arrest crusade.

Even if the 13 percent dip remained constant for a calendar year, it would only equate to a reduction of about 5,000 marijuana arrests, meaning cops would still make an astounding 45,000 low-level marijuana arrests annually — keeping New York the marijuana arrest capital of the world. This just won’t do.

The focus on low-level pot arrests undermines Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Young Men’s Initiative, a worthy program intended to provide opportunities for young men of color. The mayor deserves credit for recognizing the obstacles many black and Latino young men face, but he ignores the fact that many of the challenges his initiative seeks to address are exacerbated — if not caused — by his own administration’s policing policies.

It is very possible that the driving force of the marijuana arrest phenomenon remains in full force: Pressure from arrest quotas and overly aggressive “Broken Windows” policing that targets young people of color for petty offenses like graffiti, disorderly conduct, and — you guessed it — minor marijuana possession.

In fact, in late-October Commissioner Kelly issued an operations order that appeared to establish a formal quota system for arrests, summonses and street stops. It’s easy to imagine the average patrol officer interpreting the order as license to keep busting young people for minor marijuana possession.

It’s too early to judge whether the 13 percent drop will be sustained, or if it is just a blip before the numbers surge again. But the marijuana arrest habit is so deeply ingrained, that it’s unlikely that a single policy directive, without additional training or changes in supervision, will force long-term change.
 

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"Critiques Persist of Police Marijuana Arrests"  by Al Baker, New York Times (blog), Dec 15, 2011

Under nearly a decade of governance by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, police officers in New York City have taken into custody far greater numbers of people on low-level marijuana charges than in the past. Those arrest numbers grew in tandem with another expanding practice: Officers stopping people on city streets to question and sometimes frisk them. Civil rights advocates say that it is minorities, and men, who are disproportionately subject to the streets stops in New York.

In a September memo, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly directed his commanders not to arrest people caught with small amounts of marijuana – 25 grams or less – unless the suspects do something to put the drugs in plain public view....

Last week, the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group critical of the police marijuana-arrest policies, cited citywide figures showing that low-level marijuana arrests had fallen 13 percent since Mr. Kelly’s memo was issued, compared with the same period last year. It was a decline, to be sure, but “a disappointing drop,” considering the scale of the department’s practice, the alliance said.

“Regardless of what the numbers show, the impact is still tremendously felt by the communities that are illegally and disproportionately arrested for something that has been decriminalized for over 30 years,” said Chino Hardin of the Institute for Juvenile Justice Reform and Alternatives, which has campaigned with the Drug Policy Alliance against the arrest policy.... “When we see the numbers decrease by 80 percent, then we will know that the NYPD. is meaningfully following and upholding the law.”

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"Hypocritical NYPD Continues Racist Pot Arrest Crusade," By Steven Wishnia, Alternet, Dec 30, 2011

Despite a well-publicized police order instructing officers not to use bogus pretexts to justify marijuana arrests, New York City remains the pot-bust capital of the United States. 

Preliminary figures released in late November indicated a slight decline in arrests for misdemeanor possession of marijuana in the two months since Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told police to arrest people for marijuana only if it was genuinely “open to public view,” because having a small amount in your pocket is decriminalized, and does not warrant an arrest. The department had come under criticism because the basis for many pot busts was that defendants had emptied their pockets when told to do so by police—and when they did, they brought their marijuana into “public view.” 

In practice, little has changed, say defense attorneys and legalization advocates. “It still is happening a lot,” says Sydney Peck, a Brooklyn public defender. “A police officer pulls marijuana out of someone’s pocket, and all of a sudden, it’s marijuana in public view”.... 

To be prosecuted for marijuana in public view, explains Odalys Alonzo, chief assistant to Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson, the defendant has to be observed either smoking in public or displaying a glassine or plastic package that police recognize as marijuana. “Sometimes, we see three people charged for one joint, because we’ve seen them passing a joint,” she says.... 

The apparent decline may be simply because the preliminary figures are incomplete, says Queens College sociologist Harry Levine.... By mid-November, pot-misdemeanor arrests this year had already exceeded the 45,500 in 2009, and the year's total might surpass the 50,400 in 2010. 

“The volume seems to have kept up,” says Scott Levy, a lawyer with the Bronx Defenders, a public-defender group. The biggest change since Kelly’s announcement, Levy suspects, may be in how complaints are phrased. Police, he says, are increasingly reporting that they saw a defendant “take an object and put it in their pocket” and then found it to be marijuana when they searched them, but “our clients are saying that they never had it out.”

Joshua Saunders, a staff attorney at the Brooklyn Defenders Society, another public-defender group, says he’s seen a lot of “dropsy” cases, in which police say they saw the defendant drop the marijuana on the ground. He points out the police report of a man busted for three bags of pot in the Brownsville neighborhood in November. It says the officer observed the man on the sidewalk in front of a bodega “in possession of a quantity of marihuana which was open to public view and which informant recovered from defendant’s pants pocket.” Saunders wonders if the man had “transparent pants.”

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By the end of January 2012 the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services should make available the arrest data for marijuana possession and other offenses. The latest information will be available at marijuana-arrests.com.

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