Bratton: Signs Of More Arrests After Suspected Slowdown
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- There are signs that disgruntled officers have started making more low-level arrests, NYPD officials said Monday.
NYPD statistics show arrests were up in the past week after plummeting in the weeks following the fatal ambush of two patrolmen in December.
Ticketing for traffic and parking violations also increased after virtually coming to a halt.
Along one block of Murray Street in TriBeCa, most of the vehicles had parking tickets Monday, CBS2's Matt Kozar reported.
But flower deliveryman Al Rowe's lucky streak continued.
"I haven't received a ticket in about three weeks, which is good for me," he said with a laugh.
Glen Bolofsky with the website ParkingTicket.com estimates the ticket slowdown has cost the city about $46 million in lost revenue -- a number that is likely to climb.
"The money is budgeted and counted upon for services, including payroll of traffic-enforcement agents, including payroll of police," he said.
Union officials have denied the statistics reflected a sanctioned work stoppage. But the numbers were seen as further evidence of growing rancor between the rank and file and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
So far in 2015, police have made 45 percent fewer arrests, issued 79 percent fewer parking tickets and handed out 76 percent fewer criminal summonses, CBS2's Matt Kozar reported.
Bratton said he is still concerned about the levels of activity, but the number of arrests and summonses "are returning to normal."
"There is no specific target number that we go for," Bratton said. "There are no quotas, if you will. But based on past experience, we would expect more activity than we had been experiencing over these past several weeks."
The commissioner stressed that police have continued to respond to 911 calls and make arrests for serious crimes.
"There's no denying -- and we've been very upfront with the numbers -- that the numbers dropped off significantly," Bratton said. "But they are now coming back. And I think it's a combination of things. Most cops by nature, they want to be cops; they want to police. And they will focus on things that come to their attention, either through 911 calls or things that they observe."
Bratton: Signs Of More Arrests After Suspected Slowdown
As WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported, Bratton said no officers are being disciplined.
"We have not been canceling vacations. By contract we cannot," he said.
He attributed the slowdown to fatigue after a stressful December.
"We had a lot of very tired cops, including a lot of the leadership here who are out night after night on demonstrations," he said. "That wears on you."
Bratton added that major crimes, such as murders, robberies and assaults, are down so far this year.
The two patrolmen killed Dec. 20 in a brazen daytime ambush were targeted by a mentally unstable man who vowed online to kill two "pigs" in retaliation for the police-involved deaths of Eric Garner on Staten Island and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Police unions have accused de Blasio of contributing to anti-police sentiment by supporting protests over the police killings.
De Blasio said Monday he's confident his relationship with police is improving.
De Blasio Discusses Relationship With Police
Speaking to reporters in Flushing, Queens, the mayor said he wanted to remind people that during the first six months of his term he received positive feedback from police for naming Bill Bratton the commissioner and for supporting the "broken windows" police strategy, as well as investing in overtime and additional training.
Then, de Blasio said, came the Brown and Garner deaths and the murders of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.
"Of course that's going to create challenges and tensions all around," he told reporters, including WCBS 880's Rich Lamb. "But we're going to move forward."
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