Jersey City tells cops to keep arresting people for pot

Jersey Journal ^ | November 30, 2018

[SMGFan]

Jersey City cops received a reminder this week that pot is not legal yet.

In a memo sent Monday by Deputy Police Chief Mark Miller, all police personnel were told they must arrest anyone they suspect of possessing marijuana, even small amounts.

The warning comes five months after Mayor Steve Fulop announced on Twitter that his administration began deprioritizing marijuana arrests at the end of 2017, and as state lawmakers are on the cusp of legalizing recreational weed.

It's not clear what led Miller to issue the memo, but sources with knowledge of the decision said it came after an officer reported not arresting someone suspected of possessing pot.

"Regardless of what has been reported in the media, sworn personnel are mandated to arrest individuals violating the laws of the state of New Jersey, including simple possession of marijuana," reads the memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Jersey Journal.

Fulop, a Democrat, has publicly supported marijuana legalization, even during a failed attempt to get the City Council to preemptively ban legal marijuana sales citywide. Fulop said he wanted those banned before then deciding which areas of the city should be zoned for sales.

The mayor made a splash in July when he and the city's municipal prosecutor, Jake Hudnut, announced they would decriminalize pot. State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal told them two days later that they could not do so. Grewal then told prosecutors statewide they could use their discretion on pot charges, but that marijuana could not be decriminalized unless the state Legislature decriminalized it.

[SMGFan]

.... unless you learn they are illegals?

[VietVet876]

Tony told Paulie and Big Pussy to make as much as they can before it’s legal and then they have to switch to coke and fentanyl.

[BipolarBob]

Hey! No fair. you read between the lines.

[NonValueAdded]

Getting so a wiseguy can’t make a dishonest buck