$75 Million a Year: the Cost of New York City Marijuana Possession

$75 Million a Year: the Cost of New York City Marijuana Possession

$75 Million a Year The Cost of New York City's Marijuana Possession Arrests InNewYorkState,carryingasmallamountofmarijuanainapocket,backpackorpurse isaviolation,likeatrafficviolation,andisnotacrime.Nonetheless,in2010theNew YorkPoliceDepartmentmade50,300arrestsformarijuanapossession–morethanfor anyotheroffenseandoneoutofsevenarrestsinNewYorkCity. Overthelast15years,asinglearrestformarijuanapossession,includingallpoliceand courtexpenses,hascostfrom$1,000to$2,000ormore,conservativelyestimated. In2010,NewYorkCityspent$75millionarrestingandjailingmostlyyoungpeople simplyforpossessingsmallamountsofmarijuana. From1997through2010theNYPDmade536,000arrestsformarijuanapossession. Thishascosttaxpayers$500milliontoover$1billion. Marijuanapossessionarrestsalsohaveserioushumancostsandconsequences.They createpermanentcriminalrecordsthatcanbeeasilyfoundontheInternetby employers,landlords,schools,creditagencies,licensingboards,andbanks. Governmenthealthsurveysfindthatyoungwhitesusemarijuanaathigherratesthan youngblacksandLatinos.ButtheNYPDarrestsblacksformarijuanapossessionat seventimestherateofwhitesandLatinosatnearlyfourtimestherateofwhites. Drug Policy Alliance 70 West 36th Street, 16th Floor New York, NY 10018 www.drugpolicy.org March 2011 About: "$75MillionAYear"waspreparedbyHarryG.LevineandLorenSiegeloftheMarijuanaArrest ResearchProject.HarryG.Levine,PhD,isaprofessorofsociologyatQueensCollege,City UniversityofNewYork.Heistheauthorofnumerousworksondrugpolicyandmarijuana arrests.LorenSiegel,JD,wasformanyyearsthedirectorofpubliceducationfortheAmerican CivilLibertiesUnion.Sheisacommunicationsconsultantforprominentmediaandadvocacy organizations.In2010,Levine,SiegelandcriminaljusticeresearcherJonGettmanissueda seriesofreportsfortheDrugPolicyAllianceandtheNAACPaboutraciallybiasedmarijuana arrestsinCalifornia. TheDrugPolicyAlliance(DPA)isthenation'sleadingorganizationpromotingalternativestothe drugwarthataregroundedinscience,compassion,healthandhumanrights. Contact:GabrielSayegh,StateDirector,NewYork,DrugPolicyAlliance. [email protected]|212.613.8048 70W.36thStreet,16thFloor,NewYork,NY10018 www.drugpolicy.org ______________________________________________________________________________________ 2 30YearsofMarijuanaPossessionArrests inNewYorkCity,19811995&19962010 550,000 500,000 536,322 450,000 400,000 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 33,775 19811995 19962010 MarijuanaPossessionArrestsinNewYorkCity,19782010 55,000 50,000 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Source:NewYorkStateDivisionofCriminalJusticeServices,ComputerizedCriminalHistorySystem(Feb2011).Includesall fingerprintablemisdemeanorarrestsforNYSPenalLawArticle221.10asthemostseriouschargeinanarrestevent.Ages 16andolder.Thesetablesshowonlythelowestlevelmisdemeanormarijuanapossessionarrestsandcharges. HarryG.Levine,SociologyDepartment,QueensCollegeandtheGraduateCenter,CityUniversityofNewYork.Feb2011 3 _________________________________________________________________________ TheCostofNewYorkCity's MarijuanaPossessionArrests Inrecentyearsreportsbyacademics,researchers,andjournalistshavedocumentedthe largenumberofarrestsforpossessionofmarijuanamadebypoliceinNewYorkCity.TheNYPD made46,400ofthesemisdemeanorarrestsin2009,and50,300ofthemin2010–thetwomost recentyearsinthecity'sfifteenyearmarijuanaarrestcrusade.1 Forcomparison,from1981to1995,underthreedifferentmayors,NewYorkCitymadea totalof33,700marijuanapossessionarrests,averagingonly2,300peryear.Forthepastfifteen years,however,NewYorkaveraged36,000marijuanapossessionarrestsayear.In2010theNYPD arrestedpeopleformarijuanapossessionatnearlysixteentimestherateofearlieryears. Theseareallarrestswherethehighestoronlychargewaspossessingasmallamountof marijuana,usuallyatinybagoracigarette(ajointorblunt).Thosearrestedwereoverwhelmingly teenagersandyoungpeopleintheirtwenties,and87%ofthemwereblackorLatino. InNewYorkState,possessinglessthananounceofmarijuanaisnotacrimeforwhich someonecanbearrestedandfingerprinted.Itisonlyacrimeifthemarijuanaisopenly displayedorsmoked,whichwasnotthecaseformostpeoplearrested.Therefore,Inorderto makethesepossessionarrests,thepoliceusuallyhadtotrickorintimidateyoungpeopleinto revealingtheirmarijuana,orsearchtheperson'spocketsandpossessions,oftenillegally.2 Thepeoplearrestedwerehandcuffed,takentothepolicestation,fingerprinted, photographed,andtheirinformationwaspermanentlyenteredintocriminaldatabases.They werethentakentothecentralbookingjailatoneofthecity'scriminalcourts.After24ormore hoursincustody,theyfinallyappearedinarraignmentcourtwheretheircaseswerehandledby assistantdistrictattorneys,publicdefenders,criminalcourtjudges,andothercourtpersonnel.3 In2010,oneoutofeverysevenarrestsforalloffensesinNewYorkCity,andoneoutof fiveofallmisdemeanorarrests,wasalowestlevelmarijuanapossessionarrest.Since BloombergbecameMayorin2002,theNYPDhasmade350,000ofthesearrests,morethan underMayorsKoch,DinkinsandGiulianicombined.4 HowmuchmoneydoesitcostNewYorkCitytomakeandprocessallthesearrests? Nooneknows.Otherthanthetopmanagersofthepolicedepartmentandthemayor’soffice,no onehasaccesstotheinformationandtherearelimitedwaystoobtainit.Asadistrictattorney fromanotherlargecitysuggestedtous,theNewYorkCityCouncilorStateLegislature,orboth, couldholdhearingsandrequiretheNYPDandothercriminaljusticeagenciestodisclosethese costs.Or,awellfundedteamofexperiencedinvestigatorscouldgothroughpublicrecords,sue foraccesstoothers,andusethatinformationtoestimatethecostsofthecity'smarijuana possessionarrests.Atpresent,theinformationneededtopreciselycalculatethecostofNew YorkCity'stensofthousandsofannualmarijuanaarrestsishiddenandinaccessible. 4 _________________________________________________________________________ Inordertodeterminethecostsofbothcrimeandenforcement,manyresearchershave soughttomeasurevariouscriminaljusticecosts.Muchofthatworkhasfocusedonprison expensesandthefinancialcostoflostpropertyandliferesultingfromseriousfelonies. Howeverinthelasttwentyyearsanumberofresearchershavestudiedpoliceandcourtcostsin differentstatesandcitiesinordertodeterminethecostsofparticulartypesofcrimes.These estimatesvary,withcostsgenerallyincreasingeverywhereovertime.Butthereisconsiderable agreementandthestudiesconvergeonaminimalpoliceandcourtcostrangeof$1,000to $2,000ormoreforabasic,custodialmisdemeanorarrestandcourtarraignment. MarkA.Cohen,aneconomistandveterancriminaljusticeresearcheratVanderbilt University,whoseworkhasbeenpublishedbytheU.S.NationalInstituteofJustice,hasbeen examiningthecostsofcrimeandofthecriminaljusticesystemsincetheearly1990s.Aspartof astudyfortheNationalResearchCouncil,Cohenandothersuseddatafromseveral jurisdictionsandcalculatedallpoliceandcourtcoststobeabout$2,000forarapearrest,about $1,100forarobberyarrest,andabout$1,200foranaggravatedassaultarrest–in1987dollars.5 Severalotherstudieshaveproducedroughlycomparablefigures.Inevaluatingcriminal justiceandmandatorysentencingcostsinCaliforniafortheRandCorporation,Greenwoodand hiscoauthorsestimated$624inpolicecostsand$1,100intotalcourtcostsperarrest–in1993 dollars.6AstudybyMasseyaboutcontrollingillegalimmigrationfoundthecostofonearrestat thebordertobe$1,700in2002.7ArecentdetailedstudyofdiversionprogramsintheSan Antoniometropolitanarea,byTheResearchTriangleInstitute,reportedthecostofanarrest from"theinitialpeaceofficerinteractionthroughbooking"tobe$2,860in2007dollars.8 Thepremierstudyofthecostsofarrestsandprosecutionsisa180pagereport,The ComparativeCostsAndBenefitsOfProgramsToReduceCrime.Itwaspreparedin2001byAos, Phipps,Barnoski,andLiebfortheWashingtonStateInstituteforPublicPolicy.Thestudy calculatedaveragepoliceandcourtcostsperarrestforanumberofcrimecategoriesinall jurisdictionsinthestateofWashington.9Thecostofonearrestformurderwasthemost expensivefollowed,indecliningorder,byarrestsforrape,robbery,aggravatedassault, propertycrime,drugcrime,andmisdemeanors.Aosandhisteamfoundthatthetotalpolice costsforapropertycrimeordrugcrimewere$1,890anarrest,andthecourtcostswere$1,670 –equaling$3,560totalcostsperarrest(excludingjailandprisonexpenses). Foramisdemeanorarrest,suchasamarijuanapossessionarrest,policecostswere $764andthecourtcostswere$336,foratotalof$1,100–in1995dollars.(SeeAppendixfora copyofthecoststablefromthereport.)Thiswouldbeover$1,500in2010dollarsin WashingtonState.SincethecostoflivingishigherinNewYorkCity,itseemsreasonableto concludethatthepoliceandcourtcostsforasinglemisdemeanormarijuanaarrestinNewYork Cityisbynowatleast$1,500toover$2,000.Thiscoversallpolicetimeincludingovertimepay forarrestingofficersandsupervisors,allprearraignmentjailcosts,andallcourtexpenses.10For 2010thisworksouttoatleast$75million. 5 _________________________________________________________________________ Usingthreedifferentcostfiguresproducesthefollowingrangeofestimatesforthe 50,300marijuanapossessionarreststheNYPDmadein2010: $1,000anarrestX50,300arrests=$50,300,000 $1,500anarrestX50,300arrests=$75,450,000 $2,000anarrestX50,300arrests=$100,600,000 ItisfairtosaythatNewYorkiscurrentlyspendingfrom$50milliontoover$100millionayear toarrestandprocesspeoplesimplyforpossessingsmallamountsofmarijuana.11 Inthelastfifteenyears,from1996through2010,NewYorkCitymadeatotalof 536,0000arrestsforpossessingsmallamountsofmarijuana.Usingtheabovefiguresproduces thefollowingrange: $1,000perarrestX536,000arrests=$536,000,000 $1,500perarrestX536,000arrests=$804,000,000 $2,000perarrestX536,000arrests=$1,072,000,000 Sofar,NewYorkCity’smarijuanaarrestcrusadehascostfromfivehundredmillionto

View Full Text

Details

  • File Type
    pdf
  • Upload Time
    -
  • Content Languages
    English
  • Upload User
    Anonymous/Not logged-in
  • File Pages
    13 Page
  • File Size
    -

Download

Channel Download Status
Express Download Enable

Copyright

We respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of all users. All uploaded documents are either original works of the uploader or authorized works of the rightful owners.

  • Not to be reproduced or distributed without explicit permission.
  • Not used for commercial purposes outside of approved use cases.
  • Not used to infringe on the rights of the original creators.
  • If you believe any content infringes your copyright, please contact us immediately.

Support

For help with questions, suggestions, or problems, please contact us