NEW YORK, NY – A video of two female New York City cops claiming to have been smoking weed while leaning up against their patrol car has gone viral again this week, lighting up the marijuana debate in the city once again.
The video was published by WorldStar, a popular video-sharing brand that often focuses on the dark side of social behavior.
Today, a published news article claimed the two officers were smoking marijuana.
In the video, the two cops were seen sharing a hookah from inside the police car. It would be impossible to tell if it was marijuana from the video alone.
More importantly, the video was found to have been taken two years ago.
While marijuana has been legalized in New York, the NYPD has a policy that allows officers to smoke it off duty. Drug tests for the NYPD have ceased unless the department has reason to believe its use caused impairment on the job.
In July, the NYPD released a memo stating “The New York City Law Department has directed the NYPD to cease all random, scheduled and pre-employment testing for marijuana. The Department will continue to administer marijuana screenings to personnel when there is indications of impairment and is reviewing its current policies in light of this directive.”
Hours after that memo from the city’s law department, the NYPD said it would continue testing.
Reactions to the two cops smoking on the job were mixed. Some argued the officers were not smoking marijuana but instead just smoking from a hookah.
“I see cops some cigarettes sometimes. Still doesn’t look professional,” one person said.
Others who believed the marijuana claim went further.
“And they’ll likely neglect an emergency call for this…this is very unprofessional, legal or not, I bet they’ll scramble to hide it if a superior were to walk by like toddlers, so no it’s not okay nor allowed in their line of duty …this is ridiculous,” one person said in the video’s comments section.
After looking into the claim, Shore News Network found the story was old news. The incident took place on July 26, 2020 in the Bronx. The two women, officers of the 48th Precinct were on an anti-gun-violence detail.
They were there to deter shootings in the crime-ridden neighborhood when they were caught.
After it was posted to Instagram, the two cops knocked on the door of the person who posted it, asking him to take it down. He did.
The NYPD refused to comment on the incident. This week, the video is going viral again, but it’s just a case of rehashing an old video for a few clicks.