As one does, I was just reading the future in my Greek (née Turkish) coffee grounds, and I saw an interesting development. [Cue swamy music] I see that the NYPD is going to start making fewer arrests for possession of marijuana this year starting right about now… I predict that in 2011, misdemeanor marijuana possession…
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The other day my wife and I were walking down a street near we live and I stopped across the street from a handsome old brick building. View Larger Map “I bet that used to be the police station,” I said. “How do you know?” “I don’t know.” I didn’t know how I knew. But…
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Last week I reported that marijuana arrests in New York City cost the city $75 million per year. In truth, that’s a pretty conservative estimate. One thing left out is the cost of actually testing the drugs people are arrested for. Now if somebody takes a quick plea, the drugs may never be tested. But…
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So reports the Daily Newsabout a new reportby the Drug Policy Alliance. In response, Commissioner Kelly says if you don’t like, call your state senator. Of course, that’s a bit disingenuous because the law is already pretty clear: small-scale possession of marijuana in New York State is not an arrestable offense. The problem is how…
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Nassau County Officer Geoffrey Breitkopf was killed in case of mistaken identity. In Brooklyn, NYPD Officer Alain Schaberger was killed trying to arrest a violent man, who pushed him over a stoop railing. “Mr. Villanueva had been arrested at least three times on charges of domestic violence against the same woman he was accused of…
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From the Times: New York City has quietly reached settlements with several plaintiffs in a federal class-action lawsuit alleging that the city’s trespassing-enforcement policies in public housing complexes are discriminatory and unlawful, lawyers and others said this week. … The city made its offers in October and December and is in the process of paying…
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Well I guess since nobody was indicted, we can all shake and go home. But seriously… it would have been horrible if the officers were indicted for doing their job. Though the fact that Alvarez also gets to walk bothers me less since he already survived his “trial by ordeal.” I mean the guy was…
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Here’s the story in the Timesand in the Daily News. The difficulty is that any benefits and harms of aggressive stop and frisks are not only found in aggregate numbers but also in the individual incidents. Some of these stops are good. Some aren’t. So how do we tell the difference? How do we keep…
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Under “portfolio,” check out NYPD Operation Impact (1 & 2), from former police officer and photographer Antonio Bolfo. In an interview he says: I really liked the story of Operation IMPACT in general: how new, inexperienced cops get sent to the most dangerous places, places where a cop really should know what he is doing.…
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Your Attention Please: Marijuana has now been found in all five boroughs. Luckily, in response to this plague, the NYPD has cracked down and arrested more people than ever for the crime of possessing marijuana. In 2010, 50,383 were arrested (86 percent of these are black or Latino). Noble drug warriors estimate that a continued…
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