In first 16 weeks under the Criminal Justice Reform Act, 50,000 fewer criminal court summonses were issued citywide – reducing the number of unnecessary warrants and arrests
Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito announced today that the City’s enforcement of certain minor offenses, specifically giving officers the option of issuing a civil ticket instead of a criminal court summons under the Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA), has led to a historic 90 percent drop in criminal court summonses being issued while crime has continued to decline citywide. This steep reduction in criminal court summonses means thousands of New Yorkers will never face the threat of arrest for failure to appear in court for a low-level offense.
“Nobody’s destiny should hinge on a minor non-violent offense,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “This summer’s results of record-low crime, paired with record-low summonses, show that we can smartly enforce key low-level offenses without sacrificing New Yorkers’ quality of life or safety.”
"Making New York City a more fair and just place for all people has been the guiding force of this City Council since I first became Speaker," said Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. "The Criminal Justice Reform Act has provided fairer and more proportionate outcomes for tens of thousands of New Yorkers in just the first few months of its existence. This historic decrease in criminal summonses is proof that meaningful criminal justice reform is possible without any cost to public safety or order. I thank the NYPD and the de Blasio administration for working with the Council on necessary reforms to make our City more responsive to the needs of all New Yorkers."
“The City of New York is experiencing a continued, historic decline in crime,” said NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill. “Accordingly, arrests and criminal court summonses are also down, and the statistics from today’s announcement show that NYPD officers are exercising their discretion to issue civil summonses to address quality of life offenses like littering, public urination and unreasonable noise. The Department worked closely with the Mayor, the Speaker and the Council on the legislation that gave officers this additional tool, so I want to thank them for their collaborative efforts. This is one of many steps that the NYPD has taken to fine-tune precision policing and strengthen the bonds between the police and the communities they serve.”
During the first sixteen weeks between when CJRA took effect on June 13 and October 1, 2017, there were 50,854 fewer criminal court summonses written than during the same period in 2016 for offenses covered by CJRA (55,224 vs. 4,370).
Additionally, during this same period, preliminary data shows a corresponding uptick in civil enforcement. Between June 13 and September 30, 2017, the number of civil tickets for offenses covered by CJRA amounted to 26,154. While the increase was not perfectly proportional to the decrease in criminal summonses, a dip in enforcement is common during a transition to new policies.
The Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA), first proposed by the Council last year and signed into law by the Mayor, went into effect on June 13, 2017. By creating the option for officers to issue a civil ticket in response to low-level offenses, such as littering, appropriate low-level cases bypass the criminal system altogether, avoiding the possibility of a warrant for failure to appear for a criminal summons.
In addition, these civil summonses are adjudicated by the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) rather than in the summons part of Criminal Court. Preliminary figures show that for the OATH summonses covered by CJRA, 56 percent were paid, with 40 percent admitted to and paid prior to the hearing.
In 2016, prior to CJRA, a majority of the 267,000 criminal summonses issued were for low-level offenses, and 39 percent of litigants failed to show up for their Summons Court appearance, which led to tens of thousands of warrants. Police retain the right to issue criminal summonses, but give preference to civil tickets unless the offender has two or more prior felony arrests in the past two years, three or more unanswered civil summonses in the past eight years, is on parole or probation, or there is another legitimate law enforcement reason, approved by a supervisor.
OATH is the City court where nearly all enforcement and regulatory agencies file their summonses for hearings, including the Departments of Sanitation, Buildings, Fire, Consumer Affairs, Health and Mental Hygiene, Environmental Protection and the Taxi and Limousine Commission, among others, but OATH is not where parking tickets or traffic tickets are heard. In 2016, OATH received approximately 840,000 summonses from these City agencies. In 2016, approximately 38 percent of all summonses filed at OATH for hearings were admitted to and paid prior to the hearing.
OATH allows litigants to contest charges by phone or online, offers litigants who received a summons covered by the CJRA the option of performing community service in lieu of a fine, and is piloting extended evening and weekend hours. This preliminary data suggest CJRA has advanced the administration’s goals of preserving public safety and building stronger and safer neighborhoods while reducing arrests and lightening the touch of low-level enforcement.
OATH has Help Centers at every hearing location throughout the five boroughs, where self-represented litigants can receive assistance navigating the hearing process, filling out forms and getting access to computers and public City records. With more options for adjudicating tickets than exist in Criminal Summons Court, OATH allows recipients of tickets to admit or fight the charge online, by phone, by webcam, by regular mail, or by going to an in person hearing at OATH.
For the quality of life summonses covered by CJRA that are responded to in person, OATH offers an option to perform community service instead of paying a fine so that financial hardship does not lead to non-compliance. As of September 30, 2017, 249 people had accepted community service as the penalty in their case after admitting to the charge or being found in violation after a hearing in person. The community service programs are administered to respondents at the OATH hearing office location where the respondent appears and educational group programs, which can be completed the same day as their appearance. OATH will also be offering an e-learning video module as an option to complete the required community service. The curriculum taught is aimed at changing the personal behavior for which the respondent was cited and making sure the respondent understands that they may be issued a criminal summons in the future if they are caught repeating that behavior.
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