Commissioner Bratton admits NYPD slowdown

New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said Friday that his officers have slowed down their pace of work, especially for minor offenses — confirming what The New York Post previously described as a "virtual work stoppage" amid low officer morale and heightened tension between the New York City Police Department and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

"We're coming out of what was a pretty widespread stoppage of certain types of activity, the discretionary type of activity by and large," Bratton told National Public Radio's Robert Siegel, adding that so far no officers had faced disciplinary action for not issuing summonses or declining to make arrests for misdemeanors.

The slowdown, which Bratton said officials were taking measures to “correct,” has seen almost three weeks of dramatic – sometimes 60 or 90 percent – drops in summons writing and arrests. The approach hasn’t resulted in a spike in crime and has reportedly made life easier for some young New Yorkers. However, older city residents who remember an era of high crime and idle, corrupt police fear criminals will seize the opportunity to cause havoc.

Vigorous enforcement of minor violations is part of the “broken windows” approach to policing that Bratton instituted during his first tour as police chief in the early 1990s. The policy aims to halt small crimes, like public drinking, before they become big ones, like a drunken brawl. Supporters credit the approach with decreasing the city crime rate to record lows. However, critics say some tactics – such as "stop and frisk" – disproportionately affect black and Hispanic youth.

Bratton, in his interview with NPR, refuted critics. "[Those] advocating that it’s racist or that it’s unfair, I’m sorry. When properly directed or controlled, it is none of those things,” he said.

Bratton offered sympathy for the officers who participated in the slowdown, despite earlier this month saying consequences awaited cops who didn’t do their jobs.

In December, NYPD officers encountered thousands of protesters outraged over a grand jury decision not to indict an officer whose chokehold resulted in the death of Eric Garner, 43, an unarmed black man on Staten Island allegedly selling loose cigarettes — the kind of low-level crime “broken windows” policing targets. Protesters hurled taunts and accusations of racism at officers during weeks of demonstrations.

On Dec. 20, in the midst of heightened tensions with protesters, a disturbed man, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, shot and killed two officers sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn. He later took his own life. The events took a severe toll on NYPD morale, and police union leaders instructed officers to take extra precautions in dealing with the public.

"I'm very conscious of the impact of all of those on my personnel," Bratton said.

Police union leaders also slammed de Blasio for his apparent sympathy for the protests, taking particular offense at the mayor saying he had instructed his biracial son to be wary of police.

The rift between officers and city hall doesn’t appear to be closing, although the mayor and police union chiefs met Wednesday to discuss how to thaw cold relations.

"I've written the mayor off at this point,” said Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins in an interview on Thursday with local news channel WABC. “He's in charge of probably the greatest city in the world and he's unable to bridge the relationship with law enforcement."