Rep. Jeffries To NYPD: Cut Back On Low-Level Pot Arrests
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday pressed the NYPD to reduce low-level marijuana arrests, after new numbers suggested only modest change so far under a mayoral administration that pledged to lower them.
Jeffries said Tuesday it's been ``more of the same'' from Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration. It started in January.
Police did not immediately comment. Commissioner William Bratton has said he expects the arrests to drop further.
The arrests soared to over 50,700 in 2011. They've since fallen to 28,600 last year.
The Associated Press reported this month that arrests for the lowest-level marijuana crime fell 9 percent in the first three months of this year. There were roughly 7,000.
Jeffries notes that those arrested still are overwhelmingly black and Hispanic -- 86 percent in the first quarter.
In New York, possessing a small amount of marijuana is punishable with a ticket. But having the drug out in public is a misdemeanor.
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