The Brooklyn district attorney announced Tuesday that he will stop prosecuting low-level marijuana cases — but the NYPD responded that cops will continue cuffing Brooklyn pot smokers just as they do in the other four boroughs.
The DA’s new pot policy will free up limited law enforcement resources and will also “prevent offenders – who are disproportionately young men of color – from being saddled with a criminal record for a minor, non-violent offense,” DA Ken Thompson said in a press release.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Tuesday that while he understands the city’s DAs can decline to prosecute crimes within their jurisdiction, his cops will keep busting Brooklyn’s marijuana enthusiasts.
“In order to be effective, our police officers must enforce the laws of the State of New York uniformly throughout all five boroughs of the City,” Bratton said in a statement.
“Accordingly, the Kings County policy change will not result in any changes in the policies and procedures of the NYPD.”
The DA’s new policy of “lightening up on lighting up” mirrors a confidential memo Thompson sent the NYPD in April that was first reported by The Post.
After Bratton received Thompson’s memo in April he said he thinks anyone caught using marijuana should be arrested and that the drug should not be decriminalized.
The DA’s new policy will still prosecute pot smokers who light up in public, near kids, or those with a serious criminal history.
“My office and the New York City Police Department have a shared mission to protect the public and we will continue to advance that goal,” Thompson said in the press release.
“But as District Attorney, I have the additional duty to do justice, and not merely convict, and to reform and improve our criminal justice system in Brooklyn.”
Brooklyn prosecutors will now dismiss class B misdemeanor pot arrests before arraignment if the pothead doesn’t have a history of serious crimes or acting dangerously while high.
This includes people busted with up to 2 ounces of pot — an amount that would cost about $900 on the street.
Under the new policy 16- and 17-year-olds arrested with marijuana will be diverted to a youth court and a treatment program — and police will be directed to destroy records of their fingerprints after they complete the program, the press release states.
Thompson’s predecessor, Charles Hynes, processed more than 8,500 cases last year in which a class-B pot possession was the top charge, according to Thompson’s press release.
Over two-thirds of those cases were dismissed by judges when the defendant accepted an ACD, or adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, Thompson said in the release.
“Given that these cases are ultimately – and predictably – dismissed, the burdens that they pose on the system and the individual are difficult to justify. We are pouring money into an endeavor that produces no public safety benefit,” Thompson said in the release.