by Peter Barry Chowka
This theater of the absurd policy continues because leftist Democrats have been reduced to seeking support — and votes — from constituents in urban environments who know someone, a family member or a friend, who is locked up
At the behest of radical left-wing Democrat politicians, New York — like other states — has recently instituted criminal-coddling "reform" laws that require that violent offenders be released on the streets immediately after their arrest for crimes including violent felonies. A recent example was the release from custody several times in one week on no-bail personal recognizance of a career criminal who allegedly robbed banks six times in a two-week period. After his sixth bank robbery, he was finally remanded to custody.
Even the liberal New York Times had to admit:
On December 1, 2019, a new police commissioner, Dermot Shea, was sworn in in New York City — ground zero for this insane criminal justice policy under NYC's socialist mayor Bill de Blasio and the state's America-hating governor, Andrew Cuomo.
On January 23, the New York Times of all places published an op-ed by Shea that laid out the reality of what these "no bail" policies have resulted in:
Another likely result of this policy was the violent shootout on the streets of downtown Seattle on Wednesday, in which six innocent people on the sidewalks were injured and another bystander was killed. The police have arrested one suspect and are seeking two more: individuals in their twenties who, between them, have been arrested over sixty times. What were they doing on the streets?
Even the liberal New York Times had to admit:
This theater of the absurd policy continues because leftist Democrats have been reduced to seeking support — and votes — from constituents in urban environments who know someone, a family member or a friend, who is locked up.Mr. Woodberry [the alleged serial bank robber]'s arrest is the latest of several recent cases that critics of the bail reform statute have said illustrated a dangerous loophole in state law.
On Jan. 10, a homeless man was released without bail after being charged with striking two women in unprovoked attacks in Manhattan. On Long Island, opponents of the new law have cited a case involving a man charged on Jan. 12 with a fatal drunken driving crash who had been released from custody two days earlier. Newsday has reported, however, that the judge in that case released the man because paperwork linked to a plea agreement had not been finalized.
On December 1, 2019, a new police commissioner, Dermot Shea, was sworn in in New York City — ground zero for this insane criminal justice policy under NYC's socialist mayor Bill de Blasio and the state's America-hating governor, Andrew Cuomo.
On January 23, the New York Times of all places published an op-ed by Shea that laid out the reality of what these "no bail" policies have resulted in:
Last April, the New York State Legislature passed an ill-considered set of criminal justice reforms that were buried in the state budget bill. As those reforms have taken effect, it has become clear that they present a significant challenge to public safety. ...Early in the new year 2020, the results of these insane policies are already coming in. As the liberal New York Daily News reported on January 24:
Arrests are down 46 percent since 2013. Eighty-seven percent of arrested persons are released without bail within 24 hours of arrest. The city has the lowest jail incarceration rate compared to the five largest cities in the country, half the rate of Los Angeles and one-third that of Houston. The Rikers Island jail population is 51 percent lower since 2013 and down 74 percent from its high in 1993.
New York is now the only state in the nation that requires judges to entirely disregard the threat to public safety posed by accused persons in determining whether to hold them pending trial or to impose conditions for their release. ...
According to our calculation, 738 people arrested on burglary and robbery charges in 2018 would have been released without bail or remand under the new law, despite the fact that their collective records comprise 9,926 arrests for crimes including 1,134 robberies, 891 assaults, 524 burglaries, 334 weapons charges, 48 sex crimes (including 15 rapes), and 25 murders or attempted murders. These are not the types of offenders who should be freed to continue their criminal activity.
A rise in crime during the first weeks of 2020 is directly tied to bail reforms that took away New York judges' discretion to lock up potentially violent offenders, NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea said Friday.New York is not the only city enacting these harmful and deadly "criminal justice reform" policies — predicated on the fake meme that the justice system in this country is racist. As the Times article noted, "New Jersey, California, Illinois and other states have limited the use of bail."
"In the first three weeks of this year, were seeing significant spikes in crime," Shea said.
It's not the police department's fault, he said — "either we forgot how to police New York City, or there's a correlation" with the bail laws. ...
The overall crime rate is up 11%, NYPD CompStat data through Jan. 19 shows. In raw numbers, the police count 5,043 serious crimes this year, up from 4,542 in the same period of 2019.
Another likely result of this policy was the violent shootout on the streets of downtown Seattle on Wednesday, in which six innocent people on the sidewalks were injured and another bystander was killed. The police have arrested one suspect and are seeking two more: individuals in their twenties who, between them, have been arrested over sixty times. What were they doing on the streets?
Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran journalist who writes about politics, media, popular culture, and health care for American Thinker and other publications. Peter's website is http://peter.media. His new YouTube channel is here. Follow Peter on Twitter at @pchowka.
Photo credit: Daniel Schwen.
Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/nycs_new_police_commissioner_challenges_the_left_confirming_nys_new_bail_laws_have_caused_an_explosion_in_crime.html
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