In was is being described as a “work stoppage” in the New York press following the assassination deaths of NYPD Police Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, overall arrests have dropped 66% citywide by a police department that feels betrayed by Mayor Bill de Blasio following the death of Eric Garner.
Garner, who resisted arrest after begin cited for selling black market cigarettes on a New York City street, died following a “choke hold” that was applied to gain his compliance in his arrest. A bystander caught the incident on a cell phone video that subsequently went viral.
Choke holds are against NYPD policy. The officer who allegedly applied it to Garner was placed on suspension pending an investigation. He surrendered his badge and firearm.
Following Garner’s death, Mayor Bill de Blasio made incendiary remarks about the arrest suggesting it racially tinged and that he had counseled his 17-year-old son, Dante, who is biracial, about how to handle any run in with police.
“I have had to talk to Dante for years, about the dangers he may face,” de Blasio said. “A good young man, a law-abiding young man, who would never think to do anything wrong, and yet, because of a history that still hangs over us, the dangers he may face – we’ve had to literally train him, as families have all over this city for decades, in how to take special care in any encounter he has with the police officers…”
Mayor de Blasio continued:
“We’re not just dealing with a problem in 2014, we’re not dealing with years of racism leading up to it, or decades of racism – we are dealing with centuries of racism that have brought us to this day,” he said. “That is how profound the crisis is. And that is how fundamental the task at hand is, to turn from that history and to make a change that is profound and lasting.”
According to the New York Post, since the Mayor’s remarks following the police deaths, “traffic tickets and summonses for minor offenses have dropped off by a staggering 94 percent”… “as officers feel betrayed by the mayor and fear for their safety”.
In addition, “angry union leaders have ordered drastic measures for their members since the Dec. 20 assassination”…“including that two units respond to every call.” As a result, overall arrests are down 66 percent for the week starting Dec. 22 compared with the same period in 2013”.
Enforcement by the numbers:
- Citations for Traffic Summonses for low-level offenses like public drinking and urination also plunged 94 percent — from 4,831 to 300.
- Parking violations have dropping by 92 percent, from 14,699 to 1,241.
- Drug arrests by cops assigned to the NYPD’s Organized Crime Control Bureau have dropped by 84 percent, from 382 to 63.