NYC revisits policing tactics that clogged jails, courts

NEW YORK (AP) — The city that pioneered "broken windows" policing is retooling its longtime strategy of trying to reduce serious crime by cracking down on people who commit minor offenses, like public drinking and littering.

With crime at historic lows, New York City leaders have rolled out a series of proposals aimed at unclogging courts and jails and undoing damage done to poor, minority neighborhoods by generations of mass incarceration.

Last week, the mayor, police commissioner and the Manhattan district attorney said people who commit certain low-level infractions in the borough, like urinating in public, won't be arrested.

The city has 1.2 million such arrest warrants outstanding, many for failing to appear in court for infractions ranging from disorderly conduct to taking up two seats on the subway to riding a bicycle on the sidewalk.

The number of people arrested for possession of very small amounts of marijuana has dropped by two-thirds since 2011.

Because of public protests, and lawsuits, the police department has curtailed a once-widespread practice of stopping and searching people in the street.