(UTV | COLOMBO) -The district attorneys (DAs) of every New York City borough – except Staten Island – have said they won’t prosecute arrests for violating social distancing orders, in place to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The DAs of Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens announced their policies after the city produced New York police arrest data that showed most social distancing suspects were ethnic minorities.
The head of the city’s largest police union called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to “get cops out of the social distancing enforcement business altogether”.
“My membership demands to know the rationale behind being ordered to make arrests – and risking injury to themselves and citizens – when those arrests not result in criminal prosecution,” the letter states.
Across the US, police have been criticised for seeming to take a heavy hand with racial minorities, while going easy on white people accused of similar social distancing violations.
