NYC District Attorneys Consider Scrapping Thousands Of Open Warrants

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The city's five borough district attorney's are considering scrapping thousands of open warrants from the record.

The open warrant number has climbed to 1.5 million, mostly for low level offenses including drinking in public, spitting on the sidewalk, and public urination.

About a year before his death, late Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said anyone with an open warrant who is stopped by police would end up in central booking, which landed many men of color in jail for failing to pay small fines or responding to court summonses, WCBS 880's Kelly Waldron reported.

With President Donald Trump's immigration order, some attorneys say these warrants are increasingly dangerous for non-citizens who could face deportation.

But the New York Times is reporting the NYPD is pushing back because they don't want to give up their so called "broken windows policing policy" because they say it can help pin down dangerous suspects.