Bratton still hopping mad over Vance's turnstile jumper policy
At a roundtable hosted by the Manhattan Institute, former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. made a “mistake” when he announced his office would no longer prosecute the “overwhelming majority” of subway turnstile jumpers.
Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton speaks at City & State's NYC Power 100 event Andrew Kist
Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton isn’t happy with the way Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has stopped going after subway fare evasion.
At a Tuesday night roundtable hosted by the Manhattan Institute, Bratton said Vance made a “mistake” by making the announcement on “Friday night of a three-day holiday weekend without informing the (New York City Police) Department.” Vance put out a press release on Friday, June 30, 2017, ahead of the July Fourth weekend, announcing his office would no longer prosecute the “overwhelming majority” of subway turnstile jumpers.
Bratton argued that this gave fare evaders the wrong impression that they wouldn’t be arrested. “We’re trying to wean people away from committing crime by giving them appropriate penalty,” Bratton said, citing the “broken windows” policing he is known for, in which cops aggressively pursue lower-level crimes.
Despite criticism also coming from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and current NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill, Vance doubled down on his fare evasion policy in February, hoping to further discourage officers from making arrests. And Vance has followed through, as cops citywide made fewer than half the fare evasion arrests in February than in January.