Brooklyn Defender Services handles approximately 40 percent of the overall criminal cases for the Borough of Brooklyn, making our client profile indicative, if not entirely representational, of the wider law enforcement trends across the city, as they pertain to arrests, custody and court adjudication.

With more than half of 2014 already in the books, we’ve taken a look at whether policy changes are reflected in our caseloads. While our overall misdemeanor intake declined during the first half of 2013, during the first half of 2014, misdemeanor arrests appear to be becoming more frequent.

 

Similarly, marijuana misdemeanor arrests for public view declined during the first half of 2013, and thus far in 2014 have remained stable at approximately the same rate.