Paradise Lost: NYPD Commish Declares Slowdown Over, Revenue Generation Resuming As Normal

The city's top cop finally acknowledged an NYPD slowdown — but declared on Friday that it’s a thing of the past.

The number of summonses issued citywide dropped 94% for the week ending Dec. 29, records show. That trend continued with a 92% dip for the week ending Jan. 4. Arrests were down 66% during the last two weeks of 2014.

“I don’t know what the cause is,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said.

After meeting with various borough commanders and bosses in transit and housing patrols Friday, Bratton says that police activity is picking up. He says he told them to encourage officers to “get back to normal activity.”

“The slowdown is over in the sense that the numbers are starting to go back up again,” Bratton said.

The slowdown hasn’t had any impact on public safety. There have been 12 murders this year, compared with 14 at this time in 2014. The number of shootings was down from 25 to 21. Bratton said felony crimes were also down.

The News reported in Friday’s editions that Patrick Lynch, the head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, recently told rank-and-file officers to return to issuing summonses and making low-level arrests. He told trustees to spread the word.

“He said they should go back to at least 50% of what they used to do,” a police source said.