The NYPD made more than 50,680 arrests for low-level marijuana offenses in 2011, once again making low-level pot possession the number one cause of arrest in NYC. 2011 was the second-highest period for marijuana arrests in New York City history, and this despite NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly specifically ordering officers to stop arresting people who bring small quantities of marijuana into open view during a stop-and-frisk. In a September memo, Kelly told officers, "A crime will not be charged to an individual who is requested or compelled to engage in the behavior that results in the public display of marijuana." Unfortunately, most hippies were too stoned to read all the way the bottom of the memo, where Kelly included a photo of himself winking slyly. more ›

Last year, the federal authorities charged a police officer for violating the civil rights of a 31-year-old black man, claiming that officer Michael Daragjati falsely arrested him can called him a "n-----" Now, Daragjati's lawyer says they have a plea scheduled. more ›

According to a 20-year study [pdf] federally funded by the National Institute for Drug Abuse and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, marijuana, the illicit substance grown naturally from the earth that around 100 people every hour are arrested for possessing, doesn't harm your lungs. So what was true in 1972, 1995, and 1999, remains true today! We're awaiting the emergency press conference in the Rose Garden, and a tipster tells us that Burning Spear's tour bus has appeared on Pennsylvania Ave. more ›

The playgrounds in this city are not intended for public use—don't you remember what happened to the doughnut girls? Patrick Beberfield apparently did not when he stepped outside for a breath of fresh air in the park near his Bed-Stuy home, all because of the smell of a dead chicken. But try telling that to the cops. more ›

Yesterday, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly was heckled during a Q&A period of David Dinkins' graduate class at Columbia University. Kelly reportedly was unfazed by the outburst, which was in part spurred by alleged police misconduct during OWS protests, and made the sardonic comment, "Well, this is very intimidating." Now, a tipster sent us a video of activist Matthew Swaye following Kelly out of the building and trying to award him the "2011 Bull Connor Award." more ›

It's continuing to be a banner year for street shakedowns as the NYPD has stopped 514,000 people through September 2011, 13% higher than 2010. According to the NYCLU, 4 million people have been stopped since the program began in 2004. Did the lucky 4 millionth customer win a wheelbarrow full of NYPD swag? Were they allowed to keep their dignity and take a photo with NYPD's stop-and-frisk mascot, Patty, The Firm Hand Of Justice? more ›

Extending the courtesy of ticket-fixing to fellow officers, pepper-spraying peaceful protesters, and planting drugs on innocent suspects to meet arrest quotas are but three of the NYPD's less savory on-the-job exploits which have been put under the microscope via recent high-profile cases. But the NYTimes' Jim Dwyer points us in the direction of one person's smaller story of a particularly frivolous arrest which seems just as ridiculous as those bigger cases: a 21-year-old female student was arrested and held by NYPD for 36 hours for not carrying ID. And as Dwyer so simply puts it, once she finally reached a courtroom, "the judge proceeded to dismiss the ticket in less than a minute." more ›

The eight year NYPD veteran who was arrested and charged with civil rights violations in connection with a racially-charged stop-and-frisk arrest on Staten Island is now being held in protective custody. And the arrest Officer Michael Daragjati has provoked several elected officials into calling for a federal probe of the NYPD stop and frisk policy: "I have never been stopped and frisked. But I can no longer look mothers and grandmothers in the eye, knowing in the bottom of my heart that there is a two-tiered justice system," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. more ›

An eight year NYPD veteran assigned to patrol Staten Island was arrested this morning and charged with civil rights violations in connection to an April stop-and-frisk arrest in Stapleton. On April 15th, officer Michael Daragjati and his partner stopped an unidentified 31-year-old black man who was walking alone with his hands in his pockets. Naturally, this suspicious activity warranted further investigation, so Daragjati allegedly pushed the man against a parked van and "roughly" frisked him. Finding nothing, the individual was sent on his way, but while walking away he dared to insult Daragjati. Oh yes he didn't! more ›

Since 1977, marijuana possession in New York has been decriminalized for amounts of 25 grams or less, as long as it's not in public view. In reality, marijuana possession is the number one reason for arrest in New York City. To correct this discrepancy, Commissioner Ray Kelly released a memo this week strongly reminding his officers that, "A crime will not be charged to an individual who is requested or compelled to engage in the behavior that results in the public display of marihuana." more ›

Despite attempts to have it thrown out, the Center for Constitutional Rights' lawsuit accusing the NYPD of "stop and frisk" racial profiling will proceed. Yesterday Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled that there was enough evidence, stating, "This case presents an issue of great public concern... the disproportionate number of African-Americans and Latinos who become entangled in our criminal justice system, as compared to Caucasians." more ›

For the past year, community leaders and concerned citizens have demonstrated and spoken out against Mayor Bloomberg's aggressive marijuana arrest policies, which has led to NYC becoming the low-level marijuana arrest capital of the world. Now, a group of City Council and Assembly members assembled outside of City Hall this morning to introduce a new resolution to try to curtail what they call the "racially biased, costly marijuana arrest crusade in NYC." more ›

A NYPD police sergeant who performed illegal searches and perjured himself in his attempts to secure convictions, pled guilty to all charges and will now serve weekends in jail for three months. The maximum penalty for his crimes was 12 years, but the prosecution made no recommendation for his sentence. In the most galling of the charges against William Eiseman, the 12-year-veteran used pictures of drugs on a suspects cell phone to illegally search the man's apartment, then later lied and said the man told him where the drugs were. Eiseman's lawyer requested leniency, telling the judge "He never once arrested an individual who was guilty of no crime. He was trying to get guns and drugs off the street." Where have we heard this before? more ›

If you're one of the NYPD's lucky stop-and-frisk customers this year (183,326 and counting!) the police is giving you a slightly less opaque reason as to why they roughed you up. New forms that officers fill out following a stop include a "Reason for Force Used" field that gives officers the choice of checking a box that describes the situation leading up to the rough stop. The choices are: "suspect reaching for suspected weapon" (like this innocent teenager), "suspect flight," "defense of self," "defense of other," and "overcome resistance." If those don't quite paint a nuanced picture of what happened, there's always the classic "other" box that allows the officer to jot down why you were worth their time. Presumably this is to save room on the form so they don't have to print both "brown" and "black." more ›

Last spring, a retired NYPD officer was acquitted of felony assault charges for allegedly punching a female police officer as he and his wife were picking up their 13-year-old son. The teen, Devin Almonor, was arrested after a stop-and-frisk, and his parents argued he was the victim of racial profiling. Now, the family has filed a lawsuit against the NYPD, and the teen has spoken out about the incident: "It was surreal. I thought cops were out here to protect us. But they racially profile. They are prejudiced. I don't know what to believe anymore." more ›

Last year, when the NYPD broke its previous all-time-high record for stop-and-frisks with a sensational 601,055 street stops, many fans thought there was no way they could top one in 2011! But Coach Ray Kelly's NYPD dream team is on track for yet another champion stop-and-frisk season this year! Police have stopped and interrogated over 161,000 innocent New Yorkers in the first quarter of 2011, and at this rate they'll easily crush last year's record with over 700,000 stops. But will the NYPD's bitter rivals—the wild card underdog New York Civil Liberties Union [NYCLU]—steal their thunder in the playoffs? more ›

Fed up with Mayor Bloomberg's aggressive marijuana arrest policies, a group of community leaders, City Council members, and other concerned citizens held a demonstration yesterday on the block where Mayor Bloomberg resides on the Upper East Side. As we've repeatedly noted, NYC is the "marijuana arrest capital of the world," and the number of low-level pot arrests during the Bloomberg administration is greater than in the 12 years of Mayor Koch, plus the four years of Mayor Dinkins, plus the first two years of Mayor Giuliani combined. more ›

On Friday, a retired NYPD officer was acquitted of felony assault charges for allegedly punching a female police officer at the 30th Precinct in 2010. Almonor and his wife had been arguing with cops at the Harlem station house that their 14-year-old son, who was arrested in a stop-and-frisk, was the victim of racial profiling. Almonor's lawyer told the NY Times, "The verdict supports the claim that their son was picked up only because he was African-American." more ›

Retired NYPD officer Merault Almonor and his wife, Wilma Dore-Almonor, are currently on trial, facing felony assault charges for a 2010 fracas in a Harlem police station. You may recall that the incident started after the couple went to pick up their teenage son who was arrested, they claim, in a case of racial profiling. And when an emotional Dore-Almonor barged into the stationhouse cursing and yelling (while her husband looked for parking), the situation devolved quickly. Yesterday she told her side of the story. more ›

Yesterday brought the news that the number of stop 'n' frisks performed by by the NYPD broke the 600k barrier for the first time. But it isn't all bad news. Dig a little deeper into the stats and there is a silver lining, of sorts: while the number of stops indeed went up, the number of summons they produced went down by 19.7% in the last quarter of 2010. Of the 144,598 people stopped between October and December police only issued 9,170 summons. Yay? more ›

Break out the bubbly, precinct captains; the NYPD has broken its previous record for the number of stop and frisks in a single year! NYPD officers made 601,055 street stops in 2010, the first time that number has topped the 600K mark, according to public records obtained by the AP. It's an increase of 4.3% from the previous record of 575,304, set in 2009—a year that saw an uptick of 8% from the short-lived 2008 record of 531,159. Our back of the envelope calculations suggest that by now the NYPD has probably done at least one stop and frisk for every NYC resident. Of course, some are frisked more than others! more ›

Yesterday, the NYPD was sued by the NY Times for repeatedly delaying or denying their requests for information. But the analysis of the data which they do have can give you some idea why the NYPD might not want to let all that information fly free, especially in regards to stop and frisks: today, a Judge, and implicitly the paper, criticize the NYPD of unfairly manipulating Housing Authority rules in order to perform hundreds of thousands of unnecessary stop and frisks not in the spirit of the laws. more ›

Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito is outraged at the high percentage of arrests resulting from stop 'n' frisks in East Harlem, telling the Daily News, "The majority of the [arrests] are for low-level summons. It's an unnecessary infringement on people's rights." Oh sure, you say that now, but what about when Bad Old Days return? NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, "Critics want it both ways: Criticize cops if there are 'too few' summonses and arrests associated with stops and criticize cops if there are 'too many.'" When the summons level is just right, we'll move on to criticizing your porridge. more ›