Members of law enforcement, district attorneys and crime victims advocates from four counties joined together Monday in Binghamton to push for swift action from Albany to address a litany of public safety issues created by newly enacted bail reform laws.
Their message comes on the heels of NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea highlighting the spike in crimes in New York City in the three weeks since the new bail reform laws went into effect. The NY Daily News reports that overall crime in New York City alone is up 11% from 2019, with a 32% surge in robberies, a 15% surge in burglaries, a 67% surge in stolen vehicles and a 30% jump in shooting victims.
The new law, which eliminated cash bail for the wide majority of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, has come under intense scrutiny as courts have released people who would have remained in jail under the old rules.
Regardless of the circumstance, prior criminal history, and the facts of the case, judges can no longer set bail for dozens of serious crimes, including manslaughter in the 2nd degree, conspiracy to commit rape, child abuse, promoting child prostitution, facilitating female genital mutilation, possessing or promoting a sexual performance by a child, stalking, arson, aggravated cruelty to animals, animal torture, resisting arrest, money laundering in support of terrorism, criminally negligent homicide, making a terroristic threat, criminal sale of a firearm to a minor, failure to register as a sex offender, rioting, vehicular assault, unlawful imprisonment, obstructing governmental duties by means of a bomb, killing a police K9 or horse, obstructing emergency medical services personnel, and a slew of drug-related charges.
“The law as currently written is a slap in the face to law-abiding citizens across the state,” said Sen, Fred Akshar, 52nd District.“It’s created a revolving door that indiscriminately shuffles violent, non-violent, and repeat criminals in and out of the justice system as their crimes continue to multiply. This misguided law has effectively stripped judges of their discretion to prevent violent criminals, domestic abusers and sexual predators from being immediately released back into communities before they can answer for their crimes.
Across the state, bail reform changes have led to the immediate release of a individuals charged with:
- manslaughter in the strangulation-and-stabbing death of a woman in Albany;
- predatory sexual assault, rape, and endangering the welfare of a child in Seneca County;
- driving drunk and killing a pedestrian in Harlem;
- driving illegally, accidentally killing a 35-year old mother of three and fleeing the scene of the crime in Rockland County;
- multiple attacks and alleged hate crimes, including slapping three Jewish women while screaming anti-Semitic tirades in Brooklyn;
- committing strings of burglaries within hours of release on Long Island in New York City; and many more.
“This bail reform has dumped the rights of the victims,” said Broome County Sheriff David Harder. “It has also added more work to our already burdened courts, they have demoralized law enforcement who are trying to do their job. They have stuck the law enforcement with unfunded mandates. There was no input by court’s, District Attorneys and law enforcement.”
While Akshar supports full repeal, he has also introduced legislation to fix key parts of the bail reform law, including a bill to restore bail for the violent and dangerous crimes, including manslaughter in the 2nd degree, criminally negligent homicide, reckless assault of a child, facilitating a sexual performance by a child, aggravated vehicular manslaughter, menacing, unlawful imprisonment, arson, criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds, failure to register as a sex offender, aggravated cruelty to animals, animal torture, stalking, burglary, robbery, hate crimes, patronizing a person for prostitution in a school zone, money laundering in support of terrorism, and aggravated assault.
