The NYPD is making a lot fewer arrests than it did this time last year, apparently as a way to show its anger with Mayor de Blasio. Some say New York City is “over-policed” and that this is the way it should be.
The New York Police Department is reportedly making a lot fewer arrests for the week of Dec. 22 than it did during the same time frame last year — 66% less.
Eric Thayer / Reuters
As Reuters and the New York Post reported, the decrease is even more staggering for court summons issued for minor violations such as drinking in public, which have decreased 94%.
The decrease comes at a time of great tension between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD unions, many have interpreted it as a work slowdown.
Law enforcement officers turn their backs on a live video of de Blasio speaking speaks at the funeral of slain officer Rafael Ramos on December 27.
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
A work slowdown is a labor organizing technique in which workers put pressure on an employer by doing less of their job than usual. It's a way for employees to protest what they see as unfair conditions without declaring an all-out strike.
Relations between City Hall and the NYPD have been tense since a gunman killed two police officers in Brooklyn on Dec. 20. Many cops, including union leaders, accused de Blasio of enabling the climate that led to the killings by showing solidarity with protests calling an end to police brutality.
It also doesn't help that three out of the five unions are currently in contract negotiations with the city.
Whether the apparent slowdown was ordered by the NYPD unions remains unclear. Al O'Leary, the spokesman for the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, declined BuzzFeed News' request for comment on the situation.
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