The NYPD is still angry with Mayor de Blasio and it’s showing in their recent work. Arrests and tickets have been plummeting in the last few weeks in an apparent work stoppage.
The conflict between the NYPD and de Blasio has been brewing for weeks. The protests of the deaths of African-American men Eric Garner and Michael Brown from police brutality set off conflict between many New Yorkers and police officers. de Blasio then made comments supporting the protesters that some cops interpreted as anti-police.
Relations between the mayor and police worsened after the murders of officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos by a lone gunman. When de Blasio spoke at their funerals, police officers turned their backs on him.
Since those incidents, New York police have been slowing down their workload. Arrests are down 56 percent while tickets dropped by 92 percent. While some say the slowdown is deliberate, New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said that the lower numbers are the result of a reduction in crime.
“We’ve had a lot of things that have been impacting on activity levels,” said Bratton. “But even with that reduced activity the overall crime numbers have continued to decline in the city.”
Bratton also vowed to look into the reasons for the reduction in arrests and tickets. “I haven’t used the word slowdown,” said Bratton. “We’re watching that very closely. I will look very specifically, precinct by precinct, tour of duty by tour of duty, sector car by sector car, officer by officer.”
Ironically, the reduction in arrests has resulted in what police protesters wanted- a smaller police presence in low-income neighborhoods. Some feel the work stoppage is bad for their neighborhood.
“I feel like they’re risking my life,” said Mahmoud Alzandani, a resident of East New York, a low-income neighborhood in Brooklyn. “If they don’t want to work, they should resign.”
