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January 2, 2015 10:00 am - NewsBehavingBadly.com

Arrests are down 66% reports the New York Post. So, either many arrests were never necessary in the first place, or New York is less safe because of police action. Taegan Goddard points to Matt Taibi in Rolling Stone:

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[su_thin_right_skyscraper_ad]Furious at embattled mayor Bill de Blasio, and at what Police Benevolent Association chief Patrick Lynch calls a “hostile anti-police environment in the city,” the local officers are simply refusing to arrest or ticket people for minor offenses – such arrests have dropped off a staggering 94 percent, with overall arrests plunging 66 percent.

If you’re wondering exactly what that means, the Post is reporting that the protesting police have decided to make arrests “only when they have to.” (Let that sink in for a moment. Seriously, take 10 or 15 seconds).

Substantively that mostly means a steep drop-off in parking tickets, but also a major drop in tickets for quality-of-life offenses like carrying open containers of alcohol or public urination.

My first response to this news was confusion. I get why the police are protesting – they’re pissed at Mayor de Blasio, and more on that in a minute – but this sort of “protest” pulls this story out of the standard left-right culture war script it had been following and into surreal territory.

I don’t know any police officer anywhere who would refuse to arrest a truly dangerous criminal as part of a PBA-led political gambit. So the essence of this protest seems now to be about trying to hit de Blasio where it hurts, i.e. in the budget, without actually endangering the public.

So this police protest, unwittingly, is leading to the exposure of the very policies that anger so many different constituencies about modern law-enforcement tactics.

D.B. Hirsch
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

15 responses to New York Police In Virtual Work Slowdown

  1. KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker January 2nd, 2015 at 10:28 am

    Taibi has a way of cutting through the bovine excrement.
    “protesting police have decided to make arrests “only when they have to.” (Let that sink in for a moment. Seriously, take 10 or 15 seconds).”
    It was Giuliani who started this mess (eg: stop and frisk) and Bloomberg following up by continuing to underfund the NYPD whilst expecting NYPD to generate revenue through public harassment, false arrests, needless ticketing and general abuse of the citizenry.

    • granpa.usthai January 2nd, 2015 at 11:39 am

      it’s political building blocks. Unfortunately for Rudy, he opted for his FOX retreat after his 2001 blunder. Too much rain (questions asked) on top of smoldering dust in the political world equates to a lot of mud.

      The RepubliKan fallen house of concrete is becoming a lot muddier.

  2. rg9rts January 2nd, 2015 at 10:58 am

    No complaints from Dunkin Dounuts

    • granpa.usthai January 2nd, 2015 at 11:30 am

      would be interesting to see which businesses profit the most during this -uh- ‘decrease in non essential criminal spree’. May even give an indication of how many active duty officers are actually needed for ‘public safety’.

      “PROTECT AND SERVE”
      zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
      when necessary?

      • rg9rts January 2nd, 2015 at 11:30 am

        zzzzzzzz is known as cooping

  3. mea_mark January 2nd, 2015 at 11:04 am

    Law enforcement should not be a revenue generating business. When enforcing the law generates revenue, corruption rushes in. On top of that, excessive fines really does nothing more than beat people down a little more, making them less productive, making America less productive.

    Law enforcement fines are part of the ‘Great American DeStimulus Experiment’. An attempt by the plutocrats to restrict growth in America to keep wages low and the majority of the wealth generated flowing into their personal coffers.

    • rg9rts January 2nd, 2015 at 11:06 am

      Why does the NYPD have arrest quotas..

      • KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker January 2nd, 2015 at 11:08 am

        Wild guess:
        Lazy and ignorant rightwing politicians afraid to raise taxes for proper law enforcement and basic infrastructure for the public good?

        • rg9rts January 2nd, 2015 at 11:11 am

          To determine promotion based on productivity…like YOU don’t have times of the month when there is radar all over the place??? NYS is the last week of the month..

      • granpa.usthai January 2nd, 2015 at 11:31 am

        purty on paper.

        • rg9rts January 2nd, 2015 at 12:30 pm

          How else do rate performance??? What do they do in your neighborhood?

  4. FatRat January 2nd, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    NYPD bumper stickers should say “Boys in Blue Boycott Blasio’s Budget”.
    http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mQfXPGCYlfI/hqdefault.jpg

  5. edmeyer_able January 2nd, 2015 at 1:27 pm

    How ironic that had they been conducting this protest on the day that Eric Garner was murdered he’d be alive today.

    • whatthe46 January 2nd, 2015 at 3:55 pm

      exactly, because that certainly wasn’t a necessary “attempted” “arrest” nor was it necessary to approach him.

  6. ribbie149 January 2nd, 2015 at 5:20 pm

    If Blasio was a Republican’t, their union would be abolished. Better be careful what you wish for, gentlemen.