NYPD told to focus on drug offenders under 40 years old: report

The New York City Police Department has reportedly directed its narcotics division to stop wasting resources on drug offenders over the age of 40.

A May 14 memo addressed to “All Narcotics Commanders” from Assistant Chief Brian McCarthy, head of the Narcotics Division, ordered officers to immediately notify a superior when arresting someone older than 40, the New York Post reported.

“A previous topic of discussion has been the need to target violent offenders who are 18 to 40 years of age,” Chief McCarthy wrote. “It has been well established that the individuals in this age demographic are responsible for the majority of violent crime. However, a recent review of the Division’s arrests revealed a lack of commitment to this effort.”

As a result, the Post reports, “commanders will have to file weekly reports to Chief McCarthy listing every arrest of a person over 40, and supervisors in the field will have to immediately notify their captain and get permission to bust any drug suspect that age.”

Law enforcement sources told the Post that officers have been scolded by their superiors for arresting older drug dealers. A veteran source said a sergeant was threatened by the precinct’s commanding officer with a transfer after his team busted four older suspects, the Post reported.

“He was told if he does it again, he and his team will be launched out of Manhattan North. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. That’s his job,” the source said. “I’m blindsided by this. I don’t even know what to say. We’re letting criminals go. Crime is going to skyrocket.”

NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis told the Post that after “an analysis of the violence, we identified the core group of people committing the violence in certain areas was in the 18- to 35-year range. … Since a fair amount of the violence is related to drug activity, our narcotics division was told to focus their efforts on those core areas and core groups.”

Mr. Davis insisted that officers “were never instructed to disregard crimes being committed by people of a certain age. No one was told that if you see someone committing a crime, and he happens to be 42 years old, that he gets a pass. That’s not the case,” the Post reported.

Commissioner William Bratton reiterated Wednesday that “officers are not ignoring other types of arrests” but rather are being told “to go where we will have the maximum impact with our resources.”