Al Sharpton rips NYPD for pot arrests targeting blacks, Latinos

about 6 years in NY Daily

Rev. Al Sharpton and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson slammed the NYPD Tuesday for marijuana arrests that have targeted blacks and Latinos — as Mayor de Blasio promised a coming overhaul of the department’s policy.

Johnson, Sharpton and other Council members at a City Hall press conference called on cops to give summonses instead of arresting people caught smoking pot in public.

“Right now, the way we handle marijuana in New York City is irrational, insane and unfair,” Johnson said.

The mayor said Tuesday that the NYPD would “overhaul and reform” its marijuana policies in the next 30 days, but did not immediately share any details.

The NYPD arrests people they find smoking marijuana in public — and 86% of them are black and Latino.

The department argued that was because they make arrests in neighborhoods where residents call to complain — but as the Daily News first reported, the NYPD’s data on 911 and 311 calls casts doubt on those claims. The neighborhoods with high numbers of calls and high numbers of arrests do not match up.

Under a policy de Blasio put in place his first year in office, cops give summonses instead of making arrests when someone is found with marijuana in their possession, but not smoking it.

Sharpton and Johnson said they support full legalization of pot, but until that happens, cops should use summonses for public smoking as well.

“The grandchild of stop and frisk is marijuana arrests based on race,” Sharpton said.

In a speech in Washington, D.C., de Blasio promised changes were coming.

“The NYPD will overhaul and reform its policies related to marijuana enforcement within the next 30 days,” he said. “We must and we will end necessary arrests and end disparity in enforcement — it’s time for those to be a thing of the past, in New York City and all over this country.”

The Council did its own analysis of 311 and 911 call data and found it did not match up with arrests. Neighborhoods in southeast Queens, East Harlem and the south Bronx in particular had more arrests than would be predicted based on calls.

“The numbers don’t make any sense. They don’t match,” Johnson said. “The law is being unevenly enforced. These arrests are ruining lives.”

Red Hook in Brooklyn had 88 calls to 311 and 911, but 246 arrests. In contrast, the precinct covering Breezy Point and Rockaway Park had 113 calls, but only 22 arrests.

Support has built in recent weeks for legalizing marijuana in New York, with the state Democratic Party expected to formally back it. Gov. Cuomo, who has opposed legalization, said moves by surrounding states to legalize have changed the equation.

The Brooklyn and Manhattan district attorneys have also been moving to scale back prosecutions for pot.

Sharpton said when pot becomes legal, black business people must have access to the market. Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon made the same argument, saying it would be a form of “reparations” — comments criticized by Sharpton and other black leaders.

Sharpton said he disagreed with the use of the term “reparations,” but agreed with the overall point.

“We can’t be the ones who filled up Rikers Island, and they be the ones to fill up the bank if it is legalized,” he said.

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