‘That’s abysmal’: NYC politicians outraged after NYPD reveals 81 percent of social distancing arrests have been minorities
Coronavirus does not discriminate. Social distancing enforcement in New York City does.
That’s the takeaway from newly-released NYPD numbers that show an alarming racial disparity in social distancing enforcement. And, despite Mayor de Blasio’s reassurances, elected leaders and community activists are saying City Hall should be ashamed.
According to the NYPD, there have been 374 social distancing-related summonses issued since COVID-19 restrictions were put in place six weeks ago. Of that number, 304 of the summonses, or 81%, have been issued to African-American or Hispanic people.
That follows news that 35 of 40 people arrested in Brooklyn between March 17 and May 4 for social distancing violations were black. Across the city, where there were 120 social distancing arrests, 68% of the people were black, 24% Hispanic and 7% white.
“That’s abysmal,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said during a Zoom meeting news conference Friday. “This is not the federal government. This is not Donald Trump.”
Williams blamed de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo for stressing enforcement over education, and said that approach has set the tone for heavy-handedness, and business as usual within the NYPD. Williams said the social distancing disparity is in line with decades of marginalization within communities of color.
“We were told we were getting a mayor who was going to change this,” Williams said. “That’s what makes some of this so difficult to swallow.”
Earlier, de Blasio said city leaders would “fix” the problem like they have other police issues that have come to the surface But the mayor also defended the police, and said they have shown “a huge amount of restraint.”
““We do not accept disparity, period,” de Blasio said at an earlier coronavirus briefing. “On the arrests and summonses, the thing to focus on first, is the sheer fact that we’re looking at numbers across a city of 8.6 million people and across a time span I believe is six weeks, the numbers of arrests and summonses are extraordinarily low.
“So, I don’t, for a moment, misunderstand folks who raise alarms and concerns, or project forward concerns,” said de Blasio. "But I say, ‘Hey, start with these sheer facts, that we’re talking about very few people have been arrested and very few people have been summonsed.’
“And there’s been a huge amount of restraint by the NYPD. That’s just factually obvious from the numbers, and we intend to keep it that way only using summons and arrest when needed.”
The back-and-forth over arrest numbers came days after a viral video showed a police officer slapping and punching a bystander during an East Village arrest that was precipitated by social distancing crackdown.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said that, despite what has popped up in videos, arrests are down 50% in both Brooklyn and citywide.
He also said that for the most part, social distancing enforcement has gone smoothly.
“We have been doing it with an extremely light touch,” he said.
He also added that cops are being asked to do something they have never been asked to do.
“We have been interacting with millions of people and given out only a handful of violations, summonses and arrests, and that’s the way it should be,” Shea said. “I don’t want the NYPD to be the morality police.”
De Blasio also rejected calls to take the NYPD out of the social distancing equation.
“This is about health and safety first,” the mayor said. "When you say safety, you say NYPD. We’re dealing with a pandemic.
“We’re dealing with something absolutely unprecedented, and there’s no way in hell we are going to be able to keep people safe if we don’t use the strongest, best public safety organization in this country.”
But even Assistant Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, commanding officer of Patrol Borough Brooklyn North, acknowledged that cops did not get any specific social distancing training.
“There were a few bulletins put out but there was no training where our officers went anywhere," Maddrey said. "But they are very adaptable. Look at the borough. You’ve had thousands of engagements with people helping the community, some people in financial ruin, and our people have done incredible work. I think its just common sense with our officers sharing the information that we know regarding standing six foot apart and wearing masks.”
The social distancing disparity is also reflected in the breakdown of arrests in Queens, one of the hardest hit counties in all of the country. Of the 20 arrests recorded and associated with social distancing, two defendants are Asian, two are white and the other 16 are black or Hispanic. But none of the defendants will ever make it to a courtroom over the crackdown.
“My office will not be prosecuting social distancing arrests," Katz said. “Nobody wants a health crisis to fuel a criminal justice crisis.”
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