NYPD backs Off: no more broken windows.

• Author: Krisai, Lauren
• Position: Citings - Minor offenses - Brief article

In March, the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the New York City mayor's office announced that the borough's police officers will no longer issue criminal summons for, and the city will no longer prosecute, low-level offenses such as public urination, littering, public consumption of alcohol, and "manspreading"--that is, taking up two seats on the subway. Civil summons will be issued instead.

According to the D.A.'s office press release, police and prosecutors may still arrest and criminally charge someone for committing one of these offenses "if there is a demonstrated public safety reason to do so."

Such offenses were criminalized as part of the city's "broken windows policing" effort over the past few decades. The theory was that if you arrest someone for low-level "quality of life" offenses, that person will be less likely to go on to commit other more...