Police officers at the University at Albany (NY) say they are being discouraged from making arrests or writing tickets and have had limits placed on the number of miles they can drive their patrol cars during a shift.
The strict policies, which are resulting in fewer arrests, require the officers to spend more time on foot in campus buildings and less time patrolling roads in and around the uptown and downtown campuses. The directives also prohibit officers from stopping motorists for violations such as holding a cellphone or driving the wrong way on a one-way street, according to officers and officials with the union that represents them.
The Times Union also reports that the officers must obtain authorization from an investigator or supervisor before applying for a search warrant or when making an arrest, with the supervisors given the authority to “un-arrest” a suspect or to reject a request for a warrant, even when it may yield evidence of a crime.