NYPD Crime Stats Report Shows Drastic Drop In Arrests
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A drastic drop in arrests across New York City is raising eyebrows as Mayor Bill de Blasio met with leaders of the city's five police unions on Tuesday.
In the week since the deaths of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, the numbers of arrests in some areas have dropped dramatically compared to the same week last year, CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported.
According to statistics released by the NYPD, felony assault arrests have dipped 44 percent. Drug arrests made by the NYPD's Organized Crime Control Bureau have plunged 83 percent while arrests for minor crimes, like public drinking and summonses for traffic violations, have plummeted more than 93 percent.
The NYPD denies the existence of a coordinated work slowdown as part of a continuing rift between the police force and de Blasio since the officers' deaths.
The NYPD says the drop in arrests is due to a combination of officers grieving and being on edge after the fatal shootings of Liu and Ramos and not making unnecessary stops and summonses.
Ramos and Liu were ambushed and killed as they sat in their patrol car Dec. 20.
Prior to the shooting, the gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, wrote in an Instagram post that he would put "wings on pigs" and made references to Eric Garner and Michael Brown.
De Blasio, Police Union Leaders Meeting Amid Rift
At the NYPD graduation ceremony Monday, some in the crowd could be heard booing and heckling the mayor when he was introduced. About a dozen or so people in the stands stood with their backs turned to de Blasio.
On Saturday, hundreds of officers turned their backs to a video monitor as they watched de Blasio eulogize Ramos at his funeral in Queens.
The silent protest was a continuation of the defiance shown at the hospital after the officers' slayings when Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch and others turned their backs on de Blasio.
De Blasio, Police Union Leaders Meeting Amid Rift
"There's blood on many hands tonight," Lynch said the night of the shooting. "That blood on the hands starts on the steps of City Hall in the office of the mayor."
Union leaders also see de Blasio as being too sympathetic to police critics who have held protests over the Garner and Brown cases.
De Blasio was elected last year on promises of keeping crime low while reforming the NYPD. Meanwhile, police unions have been seeking new contracts.
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