Building a Safer and Fairer City

NYC Mayor's Office
Aug 23, 2017 · 3 min read

By Erica Bond, Special Advisor for Criminal Justice and Public Safety, NYC Mayor’s Office

Since the start of the de Blasio Administration, the City of New York has moved away from an overly aggressive approach to policing, reliant on large numbers of arrests for low level crimes and unnecessary stop and frisks. In its place, New York City has adopted more targeted enforcement strategies, focused on violent crime, and a model of neighborhood policing to bring police and communities closer together. Sixty-six percent of NYPD commands now have Neighborhood Coordination Officers, up from zero in 2013.

The results are clear: Crime has fallen to historic lows, while New York City has experienced a continued decline in arrests for low-level offenses, stop and frisks, and civilian complaints against law enforcement.

Here are the facts:

  • Fewer New Yorkers are being arrested for lower level crimes than ever before — misdemeanor arrests have declined by 27 percent from 2013 to 2016.
  • Stop and frisks, which disproportionately affected young Black and Latino men, are down more than 93 percent between 2013 and 2016.
  • The city’s jail population is down 18 percent, and the population at Rikers Island is down 23 percent, since Mayor de Blasio took office.
  • Civilian complaints have declined by 46 percent under Mayor de Blasio.

These facts demonstrate that NYPD is taking a lighter touch approach to enforcement that promotes fairness and confidence in the criminal justice system while still maintaining public safety. Small crimes, like low-level marijuana possession, are now resulting in summonses rather than arrest while other low-level offenses are being moved out of the criminal justice system entirely and are being treated like a traffic ticket.

Although much progress has been made in reducing arrests, some have continued to criticize New York City for what they view as a hidden quota system. Let’s be clear: There is no quota system.

Unfortunately, there are occasionally bad actors whose behavior and actions damage the work and credibility of the NYPD as it implements this new approach to policing. Fortunately, the City has strong mechanisms in place for rooting out those involved in false arrests or police misconduct, including the NYPD’s Risk Management Bureau, which monitors the performance and behavior of officers and identifies those who might be in need of enhanced training or supervision, NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB), the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), and the Office of the NYPD Inspector General (OIG-NYPD). These entities ensure quick monitoring of patterns of potential misbehavior and enable NYPD to take corrective action when appropriate.

The de Blasio Administration remains firmly committed to policing reforms that enhance trust and confidence in the police while maintaining record low crime rates. We know that our work is not finished. Mayor de Blasio has been honest with the people of New York that there’s more work to do to overcome historical racial disparities in the criminal justice system. That is why we will continue to build on the reforms of the last 3+ years. We will continue to expand neighborhood policing, roll out body cameras to all of the NYPD patrol force, and provide implicit bias training for all officers. These policing reforms, as well as a host of others across the criminal justice system, including our historic commitment to closing Rikers Island, make New York City a national model for a criminal justice system that is safer and fairer for all.

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NYC Mayor's Office

Written by

Live from City Hall, in the greatest city on earth. @NYCMayor Bill de Blasio

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