CONTACT:
John Nuthall
212-298-9187
Policing in New York is no longer about fighting crime and protecting the community, it’s about raising money, PBA president Patrick J. Lynch said today.
“The NYPD has become a summons machine generating millions of dollars to close the city’s budget gap while eroding the relationship between police and the communities they serve,” Lynch said. “With the number of police officers dropping like a rock, the number of summonses written by those left behind has soared by over 75,000. Some call that doing more with less, we call it closing the budget gap on the backs of working people and at the expense police/community relations.”
SUMMONSES ISSUED BETWEEN
JANUARY 1 AND APRIL 21, 2003
|
2002 |
2003 |
Change |
Percentage |
|
|
Parking |
727,347 |
769,246 |
+41,899 |
+5.7% |
|
Moving |
286,154 |
303,274 |
+17,120 |
+5.9% |
|
C-Summonses |
110,069 |
126,750 |
+16,681 |
+15.1% |
|
TOTAL |
1,123,570 |
1,199,270 |
+75,700 |
+6.7% |
According to COMSTAT records, between January 1 and April 21, 2002 the department issued 727,347 parking summonses; 286,154 moving violations and 110,069 criminal summonses. During the same period this year, the department issued 769,246 parking summonses; 303, 274 moving violations and 126,750 criminal summonses. That represents an increase of 75,700 more summonses issued this year than last (1,199,270 vs. 1,123,570) a 6.7% increase.
The number of police officers dropped by 1,009 between the first four months of 2002 and the same period in 2003. There were 23,936 police officers during the first four months of 2002 and that number dropped to 22,927 during the same period this year.
Even with the loss of 1,009 police officers, a total of 1,199,270 were issued so far this year representing an increase of 75,700 more summonses.