On Monday night a New York judge saw only 30 defendants come before him instead of the usual 60 to 90. One arraignment courtroom was used instead of two, the New York Times describes, and the judge closed down shop 45 minutes early because there were “no more cases to call.”
According to the Times, these are all signs of how New York City police officers are still not making as many arrests and issuing summonses because of the ongoing beef between city cops and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Some officers think that de Blasio indicted law enforcement during his rhetorical support for the #BlackLivesMatters protests late last year—especially when Ismaaiyl Brinsley, the gunman who killed two New York City police officers in late December, was loosely connected to the nationwide movement against police brutality.
“Only 347 criminal summonses were written in the seven days through Sunday, down from 4,077 in the same period a year ago,” the Times reports, explaining that it was the second straight week of such sharp declines.
William J. Bratton, the New York City police commissioner, met with police union President Patrick J. Lynch Wednesday night to discuss the tension. Lynch and other union leaders described the discussion as “frank” and said they “expressed concern over their members’ safety and how that might affect public safety overall,” the Times reports.
Despite the significant drop in arrests made for low-level misdemeanors, Lynch said that police officers were doing their job, and said that any solutions to the ongoing tension would have to come from City Hall—a clear dig at de Blasio.
“We wish there was a leader in City Hall,” Lynch said.
Read more at the New York Times.