Guess What Has Happened to Arrests and Citations in the Aftermath of Police Protests

New York City Police officers have issued fewer summonses and traffic tickets in addition to making fewer drug arrests since the execution-style killings of two of its officers earlier this month.

According to the New York Post, police issued 94 percent fewer traffic violations in the week beginning December 22 compared with the same period of time last year. Officers issued 10,069 tickets in 2013 while writing just 587 this year.

The number of summonses for low-level offenses such as public drinking and urination, also fell by 94 percent between last year (4,831) and this year (300).

NYPD officers also issued 92 fewer traffic violations. Police wrote 14,699 during that timeframe in 2013 while issuing 1,241 in the same week this year.

Similarly, drug arrests were down 84 percent, with officers making 382 drug arrests during that week in 2013 while making just 63 drug arrests in 2014.

The drastic drop in police activity comes on the heels of the public outcry over a grand jury's decision not to indict the officer who killed Eric Garner on Staten Island. That decision came after a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, failed to indict the officer who killed Michael Brown.

Protesters rallying against a grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner chant as they pass police while marching through Midtown in the early morning hours Friday in New York. Officers say the outcry has left them feeling betrayed and demonized by everyone from the president and the mayor to throngs of protesters who scream at them on the street. "Police officers feel like they are being thrown under the bus," said Patrick Lynch, president of the police union. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)

The news comes as New York City police commissioner Bill Bratton was set to meet with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Tuesday in an effort to try and come up with a solution to recent tension that has mounted between officers and de Blasio's administration.

But perhaps the most evident example of tension was seen Saturday as a number of NYPD officers turned their backs to de Blasio while he was speaking at the funeral of fallen police officer Rafael Ramos, who was shot in an ambush style attack December 20 along with one of his colleagues, Wenjian Liu.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray leave the church following the funeral of slain NYPD officer Rafael Ramos at the Christ Tabernacle Church on December 27, 2014 (Credit Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)

One source reportedly told the New York Post the drop in arrests in citations is no coincidence.

“This is not a slowdown for slowdown’s sake. Cops are concerned, after the reaction from City Hall on the Garner case, about de Blasio not backing them.”

In an email sent to members of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, officers were reportedly told to respond to every call with at least two units, "no matter the condition or severity, no matter what type of job is pending, or what the opinion of the patrol supervisor happens to be."

The association also discouraged officers from making any arrests "unless absolutely necessary."

(H/T: New York Post)

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