NYPD Loosening Up On Marijuana Arrests
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) - New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly has ordered his officers to stop arresting people for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
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Marijuana advocates gathered at Police Plaza on Tuesday and called it an important first step.
"We are here to thank commissioner Kelly for doing the right thing. I can be the harshest critic of this administration when I have to be, but we also have to be thankful for when sound practices and sane policy changes are implemented. So, we thank commissioner Kelly," said City Council member Melissa Mark-Viverito.
Mark-Viverito said she doesn't want to see another generation of young people criminalized.
"500,000 New Yorkers have been adversely affected by this policy. We're thankful that the commissioner has decided to change it," said City Council member Hakeem Jeffries. "I definitely plan to talk to Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo about providing some redress for the tens of thousands of lives that have been ruined as a result of the explosion of marijuana arrests."
Jeffries wants their records expunged.
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