Marijuana Arrest Research Project For Immediate Release Contact: Loren Siegel (917) 584 0869 May 9, 2014 Marijuana Possession Arrests Continue Under Mayor de Blasio and NYPD Police Commissioner Bratton New York City's Marijuana Possession Arrests are Higher in the First Quarter of 2014 Under de Blasio than in the Third and Fourth Quarters of 2013 under Bloomberg Dramatic Racial Disparities Persist with Blacks and Latinos Making up 86% of Arrests Despite Whites Using at the Same or Higher Rates In March 2014, the NYPD under de Blasio and Bratton made more marijuana possession arrests than in any month in the last six months under Bloomberg and Kelly. New York City's marijuana possession arrests in the first quarter of 2014 are higher than in the third and fourth quarters of 2013. In fact, the NYPD made more marijuana possession arrests in March 2014 than in 10 of the 12 months in 2013. As in previous years, the marijuana arrests in the first three months of 2014 were concentrated in neighborhoods where most of the residents are blacks and Latinos. Marijuana arrests are commonly made after police have searched people or ordered them to empty their pockets. Even as the number of reported stop and frisks has dropped, marijuana arrests in 2014 continued the pattern of unequal, unfair policing and arrest policies in the "two New Yorks" that Mayor de Blasio called attention to in his campaign. For example in Brooklyn, in predominately white Park Slope (Pct. 78), police made 7 marijuana possession arrests, and in Carroll Gardens and Red Hook (Pct. 76) they made 12 marijuana arrests in the first three months of 2014. But police made 111 arrests in Bedford Stuyvesant (Pct. 79), 130 arrests in Crown Heights (Pct. 77), and 438 marijuana arrests in East New York (Pct. 75), all neighborhoods where most residents are blacks and Latinos. In Manhattan, police made only two marijuana possession arrests in Pct. 01, Tribeca and Wall Street, one arrest in Pct. 19, the Upper East Side, and only four arrests in Pct. 20, the Upper West Side, all predominately white and relatively affluent neighborhoods. But police made 176 marijuana arrests in East Harlem (Pct. 25) and 285 arrests in Washington Heights (Pct. 33).
Despite government studies showing that young whites use marijuana at higher rates, 86% of those arrested in the first quarter of 2014 were blacks and Latinos, mostly young men. Seventy percent of those charged with criminal possession of marijuana were young people age 16 to 29, and 30% were teens between the ages of 16 20. In 2013, the NYPD made 28,644 of the lowest level marijuana possession arrests. This was down from the peak Bloomberg years, but it is still very high in the history of New York City. In 2014, the NYPD under Commissioner Bratton appears to be on track to make as many of the marijuana possession arrests as were made in 2013 under Commissioner Kelly. As detailed in the accompanying charts using data from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, 28,000 arrests is 12 times more marijuana arrests a year than under Mayor Koch, 28 times more than under Mayor Dinkins, and it is even greater than the eight year average of arrests under Mayor Giuliani. (See graphs for details about the above.) Harry Levine, a sociology professor at Queens College, City University of New York, and codirector of Marijuana Arrest Research Project said: "At 28,000 arrests a year, New York still makes more marijuana possession arrests than any city in the world. Yet the simple possession of marijuana has not been a crime in New York State since 1978. Isn't it time for these unfair, biased, damaging, often illegal arrests to just stop, now?" Harry Levine, Sociology Department, Queens College, City University of New York Marijuana Arrest Research Project: Directors Harry Levine and Loren Siegel http://marijuana-arrests.com/
NYPD Marijuana Possession Arrests by Race and Ethnicity in The Last Two Quarters of 2013 under Bloomberg and Kelly, and the First Quarter of 2014, under de Blasio and Bratton 7,500 7,000 6,500 6,000 5,500 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 Blacks Latinos Whites All Others 6,958 7,017 4% 9% 6,350 4% 9% 37% 39% 39% 50% 48% 47% July Aug Sept 2013 Oct Nov Dec 2013 Jan Feb March 2014 4% 9% Harry Levine, Sociology Department, Queens College, City University of New York, and the Marijuana Arrest Research Project. Source: New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Ages 16 and older. All arrests where marijuana possession was the only or highest charge. http://marijuana-arrests.com/ May 2014 3
+ NYPD Marijuana Possession Arrests 2013 (July Dec) and 2014 (Jan March) 3,000 2,750 2,500 2,250 2,000 1,750 1,500 1,250 1,000 750 500 250 Blacks Latinos Whites All Others 2,294 2,450 Average of 2,218 marijuana possession arrests per month, July - Dec 2013 2,214 2,386 2,168 1,796 Average of 2,339 marijuana possession arrests per month, Jan - March 2014 2,266 2,094 2,657 0 July 13 Aug 13 Sep 13 Oct 13 Nov 13 Dec 13 Jan 14 Feb 14 Mar 14 Harry Levine, Sociology Department, Queens College, City University of New York, and the Marijuana Arrest Research Project. Source: New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Ages 16 and older. All arrests where marijuana was the only or highest charge. http://marijuana-arrests.com/ May 2014 4
37 Years of Marijuana Possession Arrests in New York City 55,000 50,000 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 Marijuana Possession Arrests in New York City, 1978-2013 28,644 marijuana possession arrests in 2013 32,936 33,819 51,267 41,521 44,111 39,213 27,944 29,752 31,925 39,156 40,383 46,487 50,383 50,484 39,218 28,644 25,000 20,000 17,992 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 1,512 1,831 1,438 1,923 2,757 774 891 1,062 1,861 2,847 3,209 4,546 2,463 1,660 9,433 5,716 3,141 1,450 812 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 Harry Levine, Sociology Department, Queens College, City University of New York, and the Marijuana Arrest Research Project. Source: New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Ages 16 and older. All arrests where marijuana possession was the only or highest charge. http://marijuana-arrests.com/ May 2014 5
Yearly Average of New York City Marijuana Possession Arrests Under Mayors Koch, Dinkins, Giuliani and Bloomberg 42,000 39,000 36,000 33,000 30,000 27,000 24,000 21,000 18,000 15,000 12,000 9,000 6,000 3,000 0 28,000 Marijuana Possession Arrests in 2013 39,992 24,487 2,259 982 Koch 1978-89 Dinkins 1990-93 Giuliani 1994-01 Bloomberg 2002-13 Harry Levine, Sociology Department, Queens College, City University of New York. and the Marijuana Arrest Research Project. Source: New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Ages 16 and older. All arrests where marijuana possession was the only or highest charge. http://marijuana-arrests.com/ May 2014 6
.. Monthly Marijuana Possession Arrests in 2013 and The First Quarter of 2014, by Race and Ethnicity 2013 2014 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Jan Feb Mar Total Total 2,786 2,447 2,438 2,578 2,769 2,318 2,294 2,450 2,214 2,386 2,168 1,796 28,644 2,266 2,094 2,657 7,017 Blacks 1,379 1,190 1,202 1,287 1,384 1,224 1,183 1,222 1,086 1,171 1,014 850 14,192 1,074 987 1,257 3,318 Latinos 1,030 916 898 905 1,000 803 827 917 852 915 863 700 10,626 886 826 1,053 2,765 Whites 272 244 234 279 268 201 200 216 178 200 201 155 2,648 206 191 239 636 All Others 105 97 104 107 117 90 84 95 98 100 90 91 1,178 100 90 108 298 Source: New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. NYPD Lowest Level Marijuana Possession Arrests (NYSPL 221.10), Age 16 and older. For all arrests marijuana possession was the only charge or the highest charge. Harry Levine, Sociology Department, Queens College, City University of New York. and the Marijuana Arrest Research Project. http://marijuana-arrests.com/ May 2014 7
Young arrestees being led into the Brooklyn Court House in chains. Photo: Jarrett Murphy, City Limits 8