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yogabunny
fancy cat



Registered: 11/01/09
Posts: 11,281
Loc: Nasty Women Get Shit Done
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[NY] Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests
#15122926 - 09/23/11 02:04 PM (12 years, 5 months ago) |
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http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2011/sep/23/police-commissioner-calls-nypd-stop-improper-marijuana-arrests/
WNYC News RecommendSharePrintEmail Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests Friday, September 23, 2011 By Ailsa Chang
Enlarge New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images) Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has issued an internal order to the New York City Police Department commanding officers to stop arresting people for small amounts of marijuana possession, if the marijuana was never in public view. The directive comes at a time when the NYPD is taking increasing heat about alleged improper marijuana arrests.
Kelly's Operations Order landed on the desk of police supervisors this week, and a copy of it was provided to WNYC.
In the order, Kelly stated at the outset: "Questions have been raised about the processing of certain marihuana arrests. At issue is whether the circumstances under which uniformed members of the service recover small amounts of marihuana ... from subjects in a public place support the charge of Criminal Possession of Marihuana in the Fifth Degree."
NYPD sources tell WNYC it's the first time Kelly internally addressed the issue of improper marijuana arrests to the entire department since a WNYC investigation in April found police officers may have been recovering marijuana on people through illegal searches.
In New York, possession of small amounts of marijuana is only a criminal offense if it is displayed in public. Kelly's order reminds officers that if marijuana comes into public view at the direction of an officer — either when an officer pulls the drug out of a person's clothes or a person is ordered by an officer to empty out his pockets — it's not a misdemeanor, and instead should only be treated as a violation, which is a ticketable offense.
More than 85 percent of those arrested for marijuana in New York City are blacks and Latinos in the poorest neighborhoods where the highest rates of stop-and-frisk occur. National studies show young whites smoke pot more than blacks and Latinos of the same age.
Kelly's directive arrives just as City Council members and legislators in Albany are calling for an end to improper marijuana arrests. A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the state legislature that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession in public view. Bill sponsors Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and State Senator Mark Grisanti said they hope the proposed law will reduce incentives for police to improperly recover marijuana from people to make misdemeanor arrests.
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weilliORbust
Stranger

Registered: 09/04/11
Posts: 19
Last seen: 12 years, 4 months
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Re: [NY] Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests [Re: yogabunny]
#15123034 - 09/23/11 02:26 PM (12 years, 5 months ago) |
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That's amazing!
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yogabunny
fancy cat



Registered: 11/01/09
Posts: 11,281
Loc: Nasty Women Get Shit Done
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Re: [NY] Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests [Re: weilliORbust]
#15123095 - 09/23/11 02:43 PM (12 years, 5 months ago) |
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baby steps!
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guest1
Mycena




Registered: 05/25/09
Posts: 852
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
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Re: [NY] Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests [Re: yogabunny]
#15123131 - 09/23/11 02:49 PM (12 years, 5 months ago) |
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Make this a nationwide law. The cops here search everyone every time no matter their doing in order to look for marijuana so that they can arrest you.
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Kizzle
Misanthrope



Registered: 08/30/11
Posts: 9,865
Last seen: 1 day, 15 hours
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Re: [NY] Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests [Re: guest1]
#15123271 - 09/23/11 03:18 PM (12 years, 5 months ago) |
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It's a shame that telling police to do their jobs properly wasn't enough to make them do it. In the end though I guess it may be all for the better, incentive to decriminalize what shouldn't have been criminal in the first place.
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Konyap


Registered: 06/30/07
Posts: 33,945
Loc: Planet Piss
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Re: [NY] Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests [Re: Kizzle]
#15123530 - 09/23/11 04:03 PM (12 years, 5 months ago) |
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i live in N.Y.
its probably because the blacks and latinos do it in the street because they live in the city or they are wanted for questioning or something
ive never met anyone who was arrested for bud maybe one person but he's a idiot
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gamer4life
Natures Child



Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 810
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Re: [NY] Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests [Re: yogabunny]
#15123576 - 09/23/11 04:13 PM (12 years, 5 months ago) |
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-------------------- Legalize! Stop putting our children in prisons.
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Nature Boy
Stranger than most



Registered: 07/09/07
Posts: 8,245
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Re: [NY] Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests [Re: yogabunny]
#15124102 - 09/23/11 05:59 PM (12 years, 5 months ago) |
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This is so long overdue that it is hardly worth celebrating. In fact, it just amounts to a "reminder" to the officer that pulling weed out of the pocket of an individual or demanding that they turn out their pockets NEVER was intended to amount to a misdemeanor, and would only constitute a ticketable violation.
Nothing has really changed, except officers have been directed to follow the law the way they were supposed to have been doing all along.
Fucking power hungry cops.
N.B.
-------------------- All submitted posts under this user name are works of pure fiction or outright lies. Any information, statement, or assertion contained therein should be considered pure unadulterated bullshit. Note well: Sorry, but I do not answer PM's unless you are a long-time trusted friend. If you have a question, ask it in the appropriate thread.
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yogabunny
fancy cat



Registered: 11/01/09
Posts: 11,281
Loc: Nasty Women Get Shit Done
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Re: [NY] Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests [Re: Nature Boy]
#15126591 - 09/24/11 09:10 AM (12 years, 4 months ago) |
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you're right, i suppose.
but.
it IS a victory, albeit a small one. it's a reminder that what we're doing every day as Drug Policy Reform activists is WORKING and little by little we CAN make a difference and inspire change if we keep speaking up and speaking out about sane drug policy. if it wasn't for the drug policy reform activists in NYC like the DPA and SSDP things would have continued as they were.
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gamer4life
Natures Child



Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 810
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Re: [NY] Police Commissioner Calls on NYPD to Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests [Re: yogabunny]
#15127756 - 09/24/11 02:08 PM (12 years, 4 months ago) |
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Another reason to vote for Ron Paul in 2012 so we can end the police state and find smarter solutions for our problems.
-------------------- Legalize! Stop putting our children in prisons.
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