New York City’s distinguished pair of Bills stood side by side on Tuesday to tout the city’s latest crime statistics and to highlight the record low crime levels throughout all five boroughs. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton proudly told the city that crime was down a whopping 18.6 percent this year, ABC7 reported.
“Crime is down in New York City and down dramatically in many areas,” Bratton said. One of those areas, it seems, would be the number of pot arrests dropping off a cliff as a result of the policy changes that came into effect on November 19th, lowering the penalty for anything under 25 grams of pot to a simple ticket.
NYC has had 61.2% reduction in marijuana arrests since new rules in effect 2 weeks ago.
— Stephen Nessen (@s_nessen) December 2, 2014
“Overall crime was down 4.4 percent at the end of November, and the 35,000 cops and the communities that work in partnership with them deserve the credit for keeping this city safe,” Bratton continued.
With that proof — albeit a very small sample — it would seem everyone wins: New Yorkers get to indulge in their favorite herbal pastime without fear of getting thrown in the slammer so quickly (though there is much work still to be done) and the cops get to say that crime is down. So to New York politicians we say: Go ahead, legalize cannabis — we’ll give you a free “drop in crime” as a result that will surely make you look good!
Other reforms the duo of Bills announced included body cams for police officers and more training for cops in dealing with mentally ill citizens — both well-needed.
Clearly there is a long road ahead for the city, but the path is paved and the pigeons are crapping elsewhere so our hopes our as high as ever for more reforms.
