#StopandFrisk:
The NYPD is about to become a whole lot less hands-on.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton predicts his officers will have a million fewer law enforcement contacts with the public in 2015 — based primarily on dramatic drops in stop-and-frisks, summonses and marijuana busts.
“I’m not interested in quantity,” Bratton told the Daily News Editorial Board on Wednesday. “I’m interested in quality. So this idea of, ‘Are you concerned the stop-and-frisk numbers are down?’ Why should I be? Crime is down.”
Bratton said he believes the less intrusive approach can repair the fractured relationship between the cops and black New Yorkers, resulting in what the commissioner called “a peace dividend.”
Fewer arrests and fewer summonses mean fewer New Yorkers on Rikers Island. And it means less animosity between the police and the public, he said.
That goes hand in hand with the 10% citywide drop in crime so far this year.
“This is what the community is talking about: Don’t think of every black kid walking down the street as a potential criminal,” Bratton said.
“I’m not going to push cops to make stops,” Bratton continued. “They need reasonable suspicion. If they don’t see it happening, I’m not going to push them.”
The massive reduction by year’s end would come through cutting stop-and-frisk encounters by about 650,000, low-level pot busts by 40,000 and a similar huge drop in summonses for violations like public drinking, bicycling on the sidewalk and jaywalking.
The NYPD conducted a record 685,724 stop-and-frisks in 2011. Bratton says cops are doing about 2,500 a month, meaning the tally will be around 30,000 by the end of the year.
The commissioner’s projections were immediately hailed as “good news” by New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman.
“It should free up police resources to develop relationships and build trust within our communities, which is so important to effective law enforcement,” she said.
The commissioner said old racial wounds would start to heal as his approach took hold.
“The black population of the city, which has been the most dramatic beneficiary of reduced crime and violence, is the least satisfied community in the city (with the NYPD),” said Bratton. “Why? Because of all that unnecessary enforcement activity. So we’re going in a different direction.”
Bratton and other police brass told The News on Wednesday that the decline in arrests for carrying small amounts of marijuana would not affect their targeting of bigger weed dealers. In fact, police noted that 87% of the suspects arrested for shootings so far this year had a prior arrest related to marijuana.
Bratton was quick to blow off critics of his decision to change the controversial stop-and-frisk tactic used for years by his predecessor, Raymond Kelly.
A federal court judge ruled in August 2013 that the way city cops performed stops violated the constitutional rights of blacks and Hispanics. Mayor de Blasio was elected in a landslide that year after running on a platform that included greatly reducing the tactic.
“I would describe that as a good thing,” Bratton said of the reduction in crime-related interactions. “There are others who would describe that as (cops) not being as productive or active as they should be. I’m sorry. I don’t see it that way.”
Bratton added he was optimistic the number of cops would increase this year after negotiations with de Blasio and the City Council, although he declined to speculate on specifics.
“The broad-based reformation of how we police our precincts — that is going to require some additional officers,” he said.
The additional officers would give cops a chance to work in city neighborhoods instead of “just riding around in those little cocoons, those radio cars,” the commissioner said.
Lieberman said Bratton’s new policing approach needed to do more than simply reduce the number of law enforcement contacts between cops and New Yorkers.
“The quality of the interactions and the need for substantial training and retraining to deescalate tense situations and improve racial sensitivity remains — and should be a top priority,” she said.
Patrick Lynch, the fiery head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, declined to comment on Bratton’s new approach.
The NYPD is about to become a whole lot less hands-on.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton predicts his officers will have a million fewer law enforcement contacts with the public in 2015 — based primarily on dramatic drops in stop-and-frisks, summonses and marijuana busts.
“I’m not interested in quantity,” Bratton told the Daily News Editorial Board on Wednesday. “I’m interested in quality. So this idea of, ‘Are you concerned the stop-and-frisk numbers are down?’ Why should I be? Crime is down.”
Bratton said he believes the less intrusive approach can repair the fractured relationship between the cops and black New Yorkers, resulting in what the commissioner called “a peace dividend.”
Fewer arrests and fewer summonses mean fewer New Yorkers on Rikers Island. And it means less animosity between the police and the public, he said.
That goes hand in hand with the 10% citywide drop in crime so far this year.
“This is what the community is talking about: Don’t think of every black kid walking down the street as a potential criminal,” Bratton said.
“I’m not going to push cops to make stops,” Bratton continued. “They need reasonable suspicion. If they don’t see it happening, I’m not going to push them.”
The massive reduction by year’s end would come through cutting stop-and-frisk encounters by about 650,000, low-level pot busts by 40,000 and a similar huge drop in summonses for violations like public drinking, bicycling on the sidewalk and jaywalking.
The NYPD conducted a record 685,724 stop-and-frisks in 2011. Bratton says cops are doing about 2,500 a month, meaning the tally will be around 30,000 by the end of the year.
The commissioner’s projections were immediately hailed as “good news” by New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman.
“It should free up police resources to develop relationships and build trust within our communities, which is so important to effective law enforcement,” she said.
The commissioner said old racial wounds would start to heal as his approach took hold.
“The black population of the city, which has been the most dramatic beneficiary of reduced crime and violence, is the least satisfied community in the city (with the NYPD),” said Bratton. “Why? Because of all that unnecessary enforcement activity. So we’re going in a different direction.”
Bratton and other police brass told The News on Wednesday that the decline in arrests for carrying small amounts of marijuana would not affect their targeting of bigger weed dealers. In fact, police noted that 87% of the suspects arrested for shootings so far this year had a prior arrest related to marijuana.
Bratton was quick to blow off critics of his decision to change the controversial stop-and-frisk tactic used for years by his predecessor, Raymond Kelly.
A federal court judge ruled in August 2013 that the way city cops performed stops violated the constitutional rights of blacks and Hispanics. Mayor de Blasio was elected in a landslide that year after running on a platform that included greatly reducing the tactic.
“I would describe that as a good thing,” Bratton said of the reduction in crime-related interactions. “There are others who would describe that as (cops) not being as productive or active as they should be. I’m sorry. I don’t see it that way.”
Bratton added he was optimistic the number of cops would increase this year after negotiations with de Blasio and the City Council, although he declined to speculate on specifics.
“The broad-based reformation of how we police our precincts — that is going to require some additional officers,” he said.
The additional officers would give cops a chance to work in city neighborhoods instead of “just riding around in those little cocoons, those radio cars,” the commissioner said.
Lieberman said Bratton’s new policing approach needed to do more than simply reduce the number of law enforcement contacts between cops and New Yorkers.
“The quality of the interactions and the need for substantial training and retraining to deescalate tense situations and improve racial sensitivity remains — and should be a top priority,” she said.
Patrick Lynch, the fiery head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, declined to comment on Bratton’s new approach.