RELEASING CONVICTS EARLY, OR NERLY ALL CRIMINAL SUSPECTS WITH NO BAIL, IS ANYTHING BUT REFORM

Get set for New York’s coming criminal justice disaster

By Joseph Giacalone

New York Post
October 24, 2019

Criminal justice reform is all the rage this political season. In practice, it entails “woke” politicians making decisions for communities where they don’t live in — and never will.

Releasing convicts early, or nearly all criminal suspects with no bail, is one element of such “reform.” It’s anything but reform — it sounds the death knell for police-community relations. It will further erode public trust in the police. Why? There is no plan. Most of these convicts/suspects released will reoffend. Then the police will be forced to deal with them. It’s already happening.

It’s only a matter of time before a situation goes sideways, and a police officer’s actions will be at the forefront of the discussion. The question won’t be, “Why was this criminal out on the street to begin with?” Or “who is responsible for this terrible decision”? Rather, the “reformers” and their media allies will denounce the police for failing to “de-escalate, or shoot him in the finger, or (just fill in the blank).”

Whether it’s physical force or deadly physical force, it won’t matter. A snippet of a cellphone video, an allegation, a rumor will rekindle anger without facts and anger without common sense. Then, these same politicians along with the anti-police crowd will blast the “police-are-the-enemy” mantra.

Each use of force incident, even the most justified, seem to be questioned these days by the false “reformers.” Uninformed opinion drives a wedge further between the police and the community they serve.

Do any of these reformers clamoring to close jails and defer jail time know that both jail and prison populations in New York, as well as crime, have been on the decline for decades? Against this backdrop, they think we should let everyone out and call it “reform.” It makes no sense.

Violence is already beginning to explode, from the Chinatown massacre guy to the friendly fire incident in the Bronx to a fresh officer-involved shooting in Brooklyn. What do these situations all have in common? The alleged perps were all out, awaiting trial on other violent cases.

Hope is not a plan. I can’t wait until January, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “reform” plan takes full effect, to see what happens next. I guarantee one thing, the police will be searching for all of these individuals that warrant out when they don’t show up for court. What do you think will happen when the police finally catch up to them? They will just surrender, right? If you believe that, I’d like to sell you a bridge over the East River.

This isn’t fear-mongering. Open your eyes. When police-community relations are bad, people are less likely to cooperate.

The police need help from the public to solve many violent crimes. But under the new rules going into effect Jan. 1, the identity of victims and witnesses will be known faster than before. Prosecutors will be forced to provide discoverable information within 15 days after arraignment.

Good luck getting anyone to help the police ever again. This will cause further victimization, higher crime rates, more mothers missing their sons.

Get used to it. This is “reform.”