From The Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/30/nypd-stop-and-frisk-marijuana
Nearly half of people charged with marijuana posession were reportedly not displaying the drug when they were stopped
Alice Brennan of New York World and Ryan Devereaux
guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 March 2012
Police officers in New York are "manufacturing" criminal offenses by forcing people with small amounts of marijuana to reveal their drugs, according to a survey by public defenders.
Nearly half of New Yorkers picked up for small amounts of marijuana possession in recent months were not displaying the drug before they were stopped, the study shows, despite an order by New York police chief Ray Kelly that officers should not charge people in such circumstances.
The revelations will fuel criticisms of the NYPD's controversial "stop and frisk" policy, which opponents say is criminalising a generation of young people from ethnic minorities and leading to tensions between police and the public.
Scott Levy, an attorney at the Bronx Defenders, the legal and advocacy organization that led the survey, said: "This is clearly an illegal practice. And the fact that it hasn't stopped since Commissioner Kelly issued his memo, suggests there is a deep disconnect between what happens on the street and what the top brass in the NYPD are saying happens."
Under New York law, possession of 25g or less of marijuana is only a misdemeanor offense, a violation that brings a $100 fine. Only when the drugs are in public view are the police permitted to make an arrest for drug possession.
Continue reading at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/30/nypd-stop-and-frisk-marijuana
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment