Police Reform Project NYPD Bratton Racist Tactics

Dear Friends: PROP recently released these principal findings regarding NYPD arrest practices for the first three months of 2016:** 2016 Arrest Data -- January-March -- Show that the NYPD continues the discriminatory practice of targeting low-income people of color for minor infractions. ** PROP finds that in 2016, 86.5% of misdemeanor arrests have involved people of color, compared to 85.6% in the first three months of 2015 and 85.4% in 2014. ** Misdemeanor arrests actually increased by about 2% in 2016. Arrests for the possession or sale of small amounts of marijuana increased significantly, by about 33.7%. **Some arrests categories involve over 90% people of color: Theft of services (usually farebeating, and the highest category of arrests): 91.5%; marijuana possession and sale: 91.8% **Misdemeanor arrests make up the large bulk of NYPD arrests, consisting in over 2/3rds of the arrests made. ** Over 51% of the NYPD's felony arrests involve black New Yorkers who make up 25.1% of the City's total population. ** Using the conservative estimate that one misdemeanor arrest costs the City $1750, the expense for NYPD misdemeanor arrest practices comes to over $900,000 per day. While virtually all these numbers demonstrate that NYPD arrest practices are marked by waste and racial bias, the statistics that stand out for us involve arrests for misdemeanor marijuana offenses. While Mayor de Blasio, NYPD Commissioner Bratton, and other city officials have made widely publicized pronouncements about reducing punitive sanctions for marijuana infractions, the data present a different story. Arrests for these activities are actually on the rise -- by over 33% for the first three months of this year. Moreover, though research and experience demonstrate that white people use and sell marijuana in proportions and numbers equal to or greater than persons of color, nearly 92% of NYPD arrests for marijuana offenses in 2016 have involved New Yorkers of color. Time for the hypocrisy to stop and for our City's leaders to end these blatantly racist practices. The complete set of arrest data on which PROP based its findings is available upon request. Here is some recent press coverage regarding our findings: http://gothamist.com/2016/06/01/new_stop_and_frisk_guidelines.php http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-continues-arrest-black-hispanic-people-article-1.2656940 http://www.businessinsider.com/nypd-disproportionately-arrests-people-of-color-for-marijuana-offenses-2016-6 Please feel free to be in touch with your questions or comments about PROP's findings regarding NYPD arrest practices. As always, we encourage you to join us in the activities described in the sidebar and thank you for your interest and support. Onward, Robert Gangi Director Police Reform Organizing Project Cell: 917-327-7648 bgangi@propnyc.org Thomas Juliano Project Associate Police Reform Organizing Project Cell: 347-308-3117 Thomas.F.Juliano@hotmail.com Maesha Meto Project Coordinator Police Reform Organizing Project Cell: 347-698-0599 maeshasamiha@gmail.com PROP recently received its tax exempt status from the IRS. You may donate directly by PayPal or make out a check to Police Reform Organizing Project and send it to: 168 West 86th St. #4B NYC, NY 10024		UPCOMING EVENTS   Court Monitoring Project PROP continues to monitor the arraignment parts of NYC's criminal courts and to record data in an effort to expose the effects of 'broken windows' policing in low-income communities of color. We are currently conducting multiple court visits per week thanks to new PROP interns, however we always welcome new volunteers to attend visits with us. Interested people should contact Thomas Juliano at 347-308-3117, and plan to spend at least one hour sitting in the courtroom observing and recording the proceedings. Monthly PROP Meeting Thursday, June 16th, at 6:00 pm at the Ethical Culture Society,  2 West 64th St. We will gather for our regular monthly session, which is open to all interested parties, to discuss PROP updates & future strategies, such as our upcoming subway swipe action, to advance/promote our sweeping police reform goals. Art Against Broken Windows Art Show Tuesday evening, June 21stat the El Barrio Artspace at 215 East 99th Street. We seek art pieces mainly by youth. Interested young people should submit their paintings, sketches, poetry, spoken word pieces, calligraphy, music and dances -- anything that constitutes art -- to PROP's Project Coordinator Maesha Meto at maeshasamiha@gmail.com. People wanting to help plan and organize this important event should also contact Maesha Link to Director Email Link to Twitter Link to Facebook