OP-ED
Addressing racial disparities in marijuana arrests
BY RORY LANCMAN
“Does the Police
Department have a
strategy for addressing
the extraordinary racial
disparity in who is getting
arrested for marijuana in
NYC?”
That was the question
I directed to Police
Commissioner O’Neill at
a City Council hearing
last week, after NYPD
data revealed that 92% of
the individuals arrested
for marijuana in the first
three months of 2019 were
Black or Latino.
The vast racial
disparity associated with
marijuana arrests is not
new in New York City,
even though studies have
consistently shown that
white people and people
of color smoke marijuana
at equal rates. Nearly 90%
of the individuals arrested
for marijuana in 2018 were
Black or Latino, and 86%
in 2017.
Last May, the New York
Times published a front
page story “Surest Way to
Face Marijuana Charges
in New York: Be Black or
Hispanic” which debunked
a longstanding NYPD
claim that its marijuana
enforcement matched
up with community
complaints. The story
caused an uproar, leading
the Mayor and the NYPD
It is not enough for the Police Commissioner
to just acknowledge that a problem exists.
—City Councilman Rory Lancman
to create a new marijuana
enforcement strategy
whereby most New Yorkers
would be issued a summons
for marijuana, instead of
being arrested.
Virtually all of the only
New Yorkers exempt from
the policy are individuals
with prior involvement in
the criminal justice system,
which, after decades of
discriminatory policing,
is overwhelmingly people
of color.
While the number of
marijuana arrests has
continued to go down since
the new policy took ef fect
in September 2018, the
racial disparities within
the remaining arrests
have actually gotten
worse. Many advocates,
myself included, predicted
that this would happen,
since the exceptions to the
marijuana enforcement
policy undercut efforts to
fundamentally transform
how New York City
polices marijuana.
With this data in mind,
I sought answers from
Commissioner O’Neill. The
ongoing racial disparity
should be setting off alarm
bells at City Hall and One
Police Plaza and serve as
the impetus for change.
However, what I
heard from the Police
Commissioner -- and did
not hear -- was deeply
troubling.
While Commissioner
O’Neill told me that he
was personally concerned
with the ongoing racial
disparity, he said the NYPD
did not have a strategy
to address it, or any plan
to change the exceptions
that have seemingly led it
to grow.
The Police
Commissioner did not
demonstrate any urgency to
take action and address the
problem head-on.
It is not enough for
the Police Commissioner
to just acknowledge that
a problem exists. That
approach would never
f ly if crime rates were to
rise and it should not be
acceptable when racial
disparities are growing
either. We have made
substantial changes to
marijuana enforcement in
New York City in the past
year, but clearly more must
be done.
The Mayor and the
Police Department
must start taking this
information seriously, and
put forward a serious plan
for addressing the racial
disparity.
City Councilman Rory
Lancman is a candidate for
Queens district attorney.
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