NYC Council To Introduce Bills To Change Low-Level Offenses
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The New York City Council is slated to introduce legislation that could change how the city handles so-called quality of life crimes like littering or public urination.
Council officials said Wednesday that the package of bills is aimed at handing out fairer punishments while alleviating a glut of outstanding warrants and low-level offenders clogging criminal courts.
Hearings for the offenses would be handled in civil court, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
The bills, known as the Criminal Justice Reform Act, are slated to be introduced Monday.
They focus on several types of violations covered by the city's administrative code, including public consumption of alcohol, excessive noise, and breaking park rules.
The package has the support of the council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito. It was created after months of negotiations with the police department and Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration.
In his state of the NYPD address Wednesday, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton insisted the "broken windows" strategy, which involves officers enforcing minor quality-of-life issues so as to stop larger crimes from happening, is not going out the window.
The NYPD has scaled back its aggressive enforcement of such offenses, but Bratton said crime prevention is a priority.
"The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent, and I emphasize prevent, crime which this department for 25 years has been doing year in and year out," Bratton said. "As long as I'm police commissioner we will stay focused on disorder, quality of life, broken windows."
The mayor's office said Bill de Blasio looks forward to reviewing the proposal, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
Sponsors of the bill said the proposal is aimed at saving police and court resources, and would not decriminalize the offenses.
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