Pubdate: Tue, 01 Sep 2015
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2015 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Authors: Lauren Del Valle, News21 journalist Jessie Wardarski is a 
Chip Weil Foundations Fellow. NEWS21
Note: Last in a series.

IN NEW YORK, CITATIONS CONTINUE

De Blasio decriminalized possession, but police continue to crack 
down in poor neighborhoods.

JESSIE WARDARSKI The Rev. Kevin McCall, chapter president for the 
National Action Network in Harlem, says people are being taken to 
police stations "simply because they don't know their rights."

NEW YORK - Young African American and Latino mothers with their 
children walk down the bustling blocks of Liberty and Fulton in the 
East New York section of Brooklyn. Boys' sneakers scuffle on the 
cement basketball courts.

East New York is home to nearly 175,000 people. Less than 10 percent 
are Caucasian and most are younger than 45. Many seldom leave 
Brooklyn. About 35 percent live below the poverty line, and only 
about 8 percent have earned a college degree.

The 75th Precinct, which encompasses the area, has accounted for the 
second-highest number of marijuana possession summonses in New York 
in 2015, similar to the years when it accounted for the most marijuana arrests.

Warm summer weekends in East New York usually mean block parties and 
young men on their rowhouse porches smoking joints. The police who 
patrol the precinct, the second-largest in the city, often issue 
these young men minor marijuana violations, which land them at the 
county's central bookings. Often, they are ordered to pay a fine.

Although Mayor Bill de Blasio decriminalized marijuana possession in 
November 2014, police still issue citations for public marijuana use 
in low-income minority neighborhoods of New York City such as East New York.

Citywide, the police issued more than 3,800 marijuana-related 
summonses alone in the first three months of 2015 - a pace that would 
exceed last year's total of 13,377. Small-scale marijuana possession 
violations are the fourth-most frequent summons charges, after 
consumption of alcohol, disorderly conduct and public urination.

Citywide, unlawful marijuana possession has been the most common desk 
appearance ticket charge since 2004, when NYPD "stop, question, and 
frisk" practices contributed to arrests for marijuana possession, 
according to the city's 2014 criminal court report. Marijuana-related 
tickets and summons fines generated more than $5 million for New York 
state and city coffers in 2014, according to a News21 analysis of 
criminal court data.

"It's been an ongoing issue since the [decriminalization[ law has 
been in effect that they are being taken down to the precinct simply 
because they don't know their rights," said Rev. Dr. Kevin McCall, 
who helps the Brooklyn and Harlem communities navigate the criminal 
justice system as a counselor for Al Sharpton's National Action 
Network. "This is a new form of stop and frisk that they do to be 
able to at least bring someone in to write down their quota at the 
end of the week."

In East New York, officers patrol, peeking into yards and on porches, 
according to lifelong resident Chris Banks, executive director of 
East New York United Concerned Citizens Inc. The patrols lead to 
frequent citations for small-scale marijuana use and increasing 
tension between police and neighborhood residents, he said.

"It's common, social - it's become part of the culture," said Banks, 
32, the vice chairman of the 75th Precinct community council. 
"Something like this, people shouldn't be stigmatized."

He blames the police department for assigning rookie offers "with no 
experience dealing with a community like ours. They come out here and 
it's like they think it's the wild, wild West."

New York police citations for unlawful possession of small amounts of 
marijuana generally take two forms: desk appearance tickets and 
summonses. A ticket requires authorities to hold an individual at the 
precinct during processing. A summons means a court date is issued at 
the scene.

According to Tim Pearson, president of the New York chapter of the 
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement, a marijuana-related 
incident often results in a desk appearance ticket rather than a 
summons when the individual does not have personal identification on 
hand. The fines for unlawful possession and use of marijuana range 
from $100 to $250 plus 15 days in jail, depending on factors like 
criminal history.

Banks said police are "going after impoverished folk who they know 
can't afford to pay these summonses."

Responding to such concerns, Kings County District Attorney Ken 
Thompson threw out more than 1,000 of the estimated 3,300 
marijuana-related desk appearance tickets issued by NYPD officers 
between July 2014 and April of this year, according to his spokesman.

Thompson is doing so to ensure "individuals, and especially young 
people of color, do not become unfairly burdened and stigmatized by 
involvement in the criminal justice system for engaging in nonviolent 
conduct that poses no threat of harm to persons or property," 
according to a policy memo. Thompson's spokesman said he plans to 
continue declining to prosecute many low-level marijuana cases.

De Blasio ran on a platform committing to decriminalizing marijuana 
possession, yet authorities arrested more than 15,000 people for 
marijuana during the first seven months of his administration. He 
then ordered Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to replace misdemeanor 
arrests with summonses. Of those arrests in the beginning of 2014, 86 
percent were blacks and Latinos, according to Harry Levine, a 
professor of sociology at Queens College.

"The new marijuana arrest policy Mayor de Blasio rolled out last 
November is squarely aimed at reducing unnecessary arrests that could 
saddle young people with criminal records for minor violations - and 
the NYPD's 42 percent decrease in marijuana arrests clearly reflects 
this policy at work," a spokeswoman for the mayor told News21.

During the "stop, question and frisk" era of New York policing since 
the early 1990s, in which officers had wide discretion when deciding 
whether they had reasonable cause to stop and search someone, 
marijuana-related incidents occurred disproportionately in East New 
York and other Brooklyn neighborhoods with similar demographics, such 
as Brownsville and Canarsie.

After de Blasio downgraded marijuana possession enforcement in 2014, 
the number of reported "stop, question, and frisk" incidents dropped 
from nearly 700,000 stops in 2011 to just over 46,000 in 2014. 
Incidents involving marijuana decreased from more than 30,000 in 2011 
to about 2,000 in 2014.

More than 1,300 of those cited for marijuana possession in 2014 were 
black and nearly 600 others were Hispanic, according to the NYPD 
Stop, Question and Frisk Database.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom