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The aggressive street tactics of the New York City Police Department 鈥� especially its steady arrests of minorities possessing small amounts of marijuana in high-crime neighborhoods 鈥� has been one of the most vexing political issues in the city for nearly a decade.

So when Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton announced Monday that cops on the street would begin scaling back on the number of the city鈥檚 low-level felony marijuana arrests, and simply issue tickets with a $100 fine instead, they were hoping at long last to quell the decade-long controversy over the dramatic racial disparities found for such arrests.

But controversy continues to swirl this week. New York City cops, whose low-level pot busts over the past two decades have made the city the marijuana arrest capital of the world, are bristling again at the change in street-level tactics, which also included a dramatic reduction of 鈥渟top, question, and frisk鈥� pat downs earlier this year.

And some beat cops are whispering about a work slowdown, , citing police sources.

鈥淪ome guys are really blaming de Blasio,鈥� Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, told the News. 鈥淭he guy just doesn鈥檛 get it with this whole far-left agenda, and he鈥檚 putting (cops) in a bad spot.鈥�

聽Sergeant Mullins also said some precinct sergeants 鈥渁re saying, 鈥業f that鈥檚 what they want, then let them have it.' 鈥�

Over the past 20 years, the NYPD has arrested nearly 600,000 people for possessing a sandwich-size bag of pot or less. More than 8 of 10 of these people have been black and Latino, even though whites use the drug at similar 鈥� and for young people, higher 鈥� rates.

The focus on low-level pot busts in high-crime neighborhoods allows cops to discover more serious crimes, such as gun possession and more serious drugs. The NYPD sees this as an essential tactic for fighting crime.聽

Many long-time critics, too, remain unsatisfied with the new policy. The city鈥檚 summons system, which adjudicates tickets and municipal fines, has deep racial disparities as well, they point out. Furthermore, tickets, unlike arrests, do not track racial and demographic data, and they do not provide the same due process rights for the accused.

鈥淚n order to give the public confidence in the fairness of the criminal justice system, these cases should be subject to prosecutorial review,鈥� Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson , reacting to the mayor鈥檚 announcement Monday. 鈥淏y allowing these cases to avoid early review, by issuing a summons, there is a serious concern that many summonses will be issued without the safeguards currently in place. These cases will move forward even when due process violations might have occurred.鈥�

Earlier this year, Mr. Thompson鈥檚 office said it would no longer prosecute those arrested for low-level marijuana possession, if the accused had no prior records or outstanding warrants. Since July, Brooklyn prosecutors have dismissed the cases of about 850 individuals carrying small amounts of pot, nearly a third of all such cases, the Times reports. 聽聽

Nearly 81 percent of the 7.3 million people given tickets of all sorts between 2001 and 2013 were black and Hispanic, .

But the issue is both politically and logistically complex. On the one hand, in 1977, New York State already decriminalized possessing less than 25 grams of marijuana, making it merely a ticketable offense. Displaying it openly in public, or smoking it on the streets, however, was and is still considered a felony misdemeanor.

New York City cops have used this as a kind of tactical loophole when arresting those found with small amounts of the drug. Often when they make a stop, they order the person to empty his or her pockets. Then, when even small amounts of marijuana become displayed 鈥渋n open view,鈥� the person can be arrested.聽

For example, a low-level pot dealer could be carrying up to 30 鈥渄ime bags鈥� of the drug 鈥� small packets that sell for 10 bucks 鈥� and still have less than 25 grams. Technically, this is only a ticketable offense if the drugs are not displayed in open view.

鈥淚f the current practice of making arrests for both possession and sale of marijuana is, in fact, abandoned, then this is clearly the beginning of the breakdown of a civilized society,鈥� Mullins after the mayor and commissioner announced the new policy.

鈥淚t鈥檚 counterproductive to the broken-windows theory,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e not making marijuana arrests, then we may not pop someone who has a warrant on them or who committed felony crimes.鈥欌��