Advertisement

NYPD gave out zero tickets in Times Square on New Year's Eve

Zero isn't just the total of minor offenses ticketed on New Years Eve, it's the total for the entirety of the holiday week, from December 28 through January 3.

By Brooks Hays
An NYPD Police Officer stands in Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York City on December 31, 2014. Approximately one million revelers stood in Times Square to watch the ball drop and bring in the new year on the first day of 2015. UPI/John Angelillo
An NYPD Police Officer stands in Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York City on December 31, 2014. Approximately one million revelers stood in Times Square to watch the ball drop and bring in the new year on the first day of 2015. UPI/John Angelillo | License Photo

NEW YORK, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- It seems police in New York are intent on looking the other way when it comes to minor offenses. On New Year's Eve, officers with the New York City Police Department failed to issue a single citation in Times Square -- one million partygoers, zero tickets.

The only low-level arrest made in Times Square on New Year's Eve was subway-related. Not a single reveler was cited for possession of an open alcohol container or public urination. Zero tickets were written for double parking or public drunkenness.

Advertisement

Zero isn't just the total of minor offenses ticketed on New Years Eve, it's the total for the entirety of the holiday week, from December 28 through January 3.

While it's possible the surprisingly low number of citations is an anomaly, or that this year's revelers were an unusually polite and sober bunch, the ancillary evidence suggests otherwise. Instead, the New Year's Eve numbers seem to confirm suggestions police officers are purposefully ignoring lesser offenses.

As the New York Times reported this week, police officers arrested or ticketed only 22 people for avoiding the subway fare by jumping the turnstiles last week. A year ago, during the first week of January 2014, police cited some 1,400 New Yorkers for the same offense.

Advertisement

Arrests and citations have been down across the city since tensions between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Police Department came to head after two officers were murdered in the wake of the protests over the death of Eric Garner.

While some New Yorkers are unnerved by the apparent lack of diligence on the part of the police, others say it's proof of the fallacy of the broken windows theory, the law enforcement philosophy made popular by former New York City Mayor Giuliani.

"There have been unnecessary arrests, and this proves it," Monifa Bandele, an spokesperson for the Communities United for Police Reform, told the Chicago Tribune.

On Friday, Police Commissioner William Bratton told reporters that arrests were already trending back up. "We'll work to bring things back to normal," he said.

New statistics on the past week's arrest totals will be available on Monday.

Latest Headlines