NEW YORK - Starting this Saturday, the New York City Police Department will stop arresting people for smoking marijuana in public.

New Yorkers without a prior criminal record will face just a summons.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner James O'Neill announced the new policy in June.

The summonses will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Police will still arrest people on parole or probation or anyone who a misdemeanor or felony warrant.

The mayor says he believes this will reduce what are deemed unnecessary arrests and free up officers to respond to more serious offenses.

"One of the things that we have emphasized as being a virtue of the new marijuana policy is it does not take an officer off patrol to go through the whole procedure of arrest which is many hours and by definition, the officer is no longer on patrol. A summons is the reverse. Give the summons and right back on patrol and there to help keep people safe," De Blasio said.

Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance Jr. also recently announced his office will no longer prosecute marijuana possession and smoking possession cases.