Levine argues that this costly enforcement strategy ultimately causes only more problems by "socializing" young blacks and Latinos to the jail culture and making a life of crime more likely, because many places where these young men might otherwise find employment don't hire those with criminal records.

That's because more city cops are assigned to "high-crime" areas, most of which are disproportionately black or Latino, Levine says. The cops are then pushed to meet Kelly's "productivity goals," which the police union's lawyers contend in pending lawsuits are actually "illegal quotas" for arrests and stop-and-frisks.

"The police catch so many more of one kind of fish because they are mostly searching in certain waters," Levine says.

Marijuana pinches are generally easy and safe, and they provide overtime while giving the appearance of productivity, he says. And who's easier to arrest: young and poor black and Latino men, who Levine says "usually lack the political and social connections that might make the arrests troublesome or embarrassing for the police," or white college kids whose parents can probably afford lawyers who make a living picking apart weak cases?

Whether as a byproduct or by design, these mass pot arrests have enabled the NYPD to add thousands of new names, photographs, and fingerprints to their criminal-record databases. Levine's study found that 60 percent of those arrested on misdemeanor pot charges since 1997 didn't have prior criminal records.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0818,weeding-out-blacks-and-latinos,427158,2.html

jaja007, I don't doubt that white people smoke weed in public, I'm just saying it's not nearly as prevalent (and like I said, seeing Asians doing so is even rarer). Point being, the arrest rates seem to pretty much accurately reflect what I've seen firsthand.

ihateallbrokers, I agree with you completely.

id rather be surrounded by 30000 blatinos smoking blunts than just 30 drunk white frat boys in the LES on a warm weekend.

DNA, just walk around the lower east side on a warm weekend. You'll see plenty of white people smoking pot on the street.

What's the big crime in smoking pot if you're not operating machinery or a car, anyway? You just get the munchies, laugh at dumb jokes, and think those sucky bands that play all over the Lower East Side are actually good.

Next time you smell weed on the street, look around and see who's smoking it. Eight times out of ten, it will be an African-American male. I've seen like one white dude smoking a joint on the street, and I have never seen an Asian person smoking weed on the street, ever.

Is it beyond comprehension that maybe—just maybe—the racial disparities in arrests just might simply be because different races/cultures do different things at different rates? I mean, I know that's not "politically correct," but it should be apparent to anyone with eyes.

"Americans don't know the meaning of the term MODERATION."

Although true, it's not the government's job to legislate that. If I wanted to live in a society where the government controls all, robbing me of any personal responsibility, I would move to N. Korea where they are not allowed to own cell phones and are sometimes commanded to shit on their lawns to help it grow.

a total waste of time all around. the $ the state/feds could make from a moderate tax on legal pot would go a long way to fund alternate sources of energy for example, which is where everybody should be gearing their thinking. On the state level, add to that the waste of $ from incarcerating people for the outdated, draconian (and ineffective) Rocky drug laws...well, you get the idea.

Legally Blonde 3. That's actually pretty funny.

If I get busted I won't be blurting out shit to the judge, my lawyer will be speaking for me and it won't be Reese Witherspoon either. I won't on my own be making any statements to the police and I won't be making any deals with the DA so I can spend a few less hours in lockup. If you think copping to a possession charge is petty or the expedient thing to do then go ahead and do it. But I would lose my job and have a hard time finding a new one, and every time I filled out any form for the rest of my life I would always have to divulge the details of my drug arrest. No thanks.

Help me - I can't escape Ira Glass! I'm having nightmares.

They should arrest people for dressing like shit. Taxpayer's money well spent.

It is indeed a waste of police resources, but the last thing we need is to legalize pot.

Americans don't know the meaning of the term MODERATION. We'd stone ourselves stupid like we drink ourselves numb now.

Keeping it illegal keeps it under control. They should just lighten the penalties.

If you want to get as high as a kite for very little dough, go to Jamaica. You WILL get fucked up!

thanks...

um will this be the plot of legally blonde 3?

or um maybe another legal courtroom drama type thing where the plunky young person with ideals represents himself and fights the system and takes it all the way to the supreme court...

what legal options are you talking about?

when the system has you there are really no options, do you think you can blurt out in court no your honor judge guy i didnt consent to let him search me for weed?

well maybe you can hire a laywer who can take on a case,

but in general these things are too petty on the defendant's side to even bother, unless of course your daddy's little girl and daddy has a fat wallet and a lawyer on retainer anyway...but hey thats what the system is for

to feed itself and further its existence...

doesnt that seem unfair? does to me!

since most minorities are already primed and prepped for the prison they call life in ameriKKKa, so copping a plea is the most expedient way to get it over with.

it games the system, the system games itself,

when will the riots start?! hurry i want to see landlords, brokers, cops, telemarketers, used car salesmen & stroller moms hanging from lightposts...

They'll ask for your consent first and you can say no. If they don't ask you can still say that you don't consent. That doesn't mean they still won't search you but it sure preserves a lot of legal options for you down the road.

ghoulliani & gloomberg pig cpolice tactics need to be stopped, every knows someone who has a delivery service #, this is a class divide issue.

no pun intended, they nickel & diming those people into arrests

more arrests = more paperwork = more paperwork = more overtime

pigs are feeding into the criminal injustice system.

why would they actually have to arrest small time buyers of weed when if these mopes are dumb enough to incriminate themselves by falling for the 'just hand over the weed and ill let you go' trick it wouldnt be hard for cops to close down the drug dealing location...that doesnt feed the pig system thats why.

In my youth, we were taught to "Play it to a bust"... in other words: NEVER tell the police that you're carrying. Do not do the cops job for them, especially when it's your freedom at stake! They will try to bluff you, even lie outright to you.

Play it to a bust.

You mean one can refuse a "stop and frisk"? isn't a stop and frisk a mandatory search, how can one refuse it?

Lessons to be learned:

- If you're holding something never consent to a search, either of your car, your home or your person. That doesn't mean you should resist, just don't give your consent.

- Do not put yourself in jail by voluntarily handing over anything. Cops don't give brownie points if you do their job for them.

- Before they frisk you they'll ask whether you have anything illegal or anything that might stick them during the search. Tell them that you have nothing on you that will cause them any harm (assuming that's true -- if you have a knife or a needle then say so because if you let them search and they're injured you'll be charged for that).

Here's an interesting question: the arrest rate has gone up, but what about the conviction rate?

In other words: how many of these charges are being dropped or thrown out the moment they hit the courts and the judges recognize the case for the waste of time that it is?

I'm betting that commentor #8's experience is typical, and that this is even worse a waste of the city's money than it looks like on first blush.

It works out in tax dollars because potheads are just wasting money and time which is money. Now, if we could only reign in the liquor lobby and start arresting people for drinking, think of the labor hours that we'd be able to save and think of the jobs created in law enforcement.