New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton defended his department's focus on minor offenses, but admitted some tweaking can be done.
"Minor crime left undetected, undeterred, unaddressed will eventually become major crime," Bratton said Sunday on
"The Cats Roundtable" on AM 970 in New York. " Under no circumstances would I support decriminalizing quality-of-life offenses."
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"It’s what saved New York City beginning in the 1990s," Bratton told host John Catsimatidis. "It’s why we get 56 million tourists a year coming into New York."
The current debate that is being discussed in the city council involves seven or eight offenses such as public drinking, urination and fare evasion, Bratton said, but he added it is important for police to keep the right to arrest people for such offenses.
The processing of such offenses could be changed, he said, and he will include his ideas in a letter on Monday to the council.
"Having to go to court. Why don’t we have mail-in?" he said. "The fines are too large. I think we can address all those issues. I think we can find common ground."
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