New York Police Department arrests were down “66 percent” during the week of Christmas, compared to arrests for the same time period in 2013. This drop comes as “officers feel betrayed by [Mayor Bill de Blasio] and fear for their safety.”
According to the New York Post, the “66 percent” drop in arrests is complimented by a “94 percent” drop in “traffic tickets and summons for minor offenses.” In fact, “summonses for low-level offenses like public drinking and urination … dropped from 4,831 to 300" from this time period in 2013 to 2014.
The drops in arrests, tickets, and summons became evident just days after the December 20 executions of NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. And that heinous crime, of course, was preceded by the jury’s decision in Eric Garner’s death and the criticism de Blasio leveled against the NYPD thereafter.
On December 20, Breitbart News reported that Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch told NYPD officers to protect themselves because de Blasio would not.
Lynch told officers, “If we won’t get supported when we do our jobs, if we’re going to get hurt for doing what’s right then we’re going to do it the way they want it. We will use extreme discretion in every encounter.”
Elaborating, he said, “Our friends, we’re courteous to them. Our enemies, extreme discretion. The rules are made by them to hurt you. We’ll now use those rules to protect us.”
