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Written by Howard Kopel
On January 27, a New York City Police Department lieutenant and police officer were viciously attacked by several individuals while attempting to disperse a disorderly crowd outside an immigrant shelter in midtown Manhattan. After a scuffle, seven suspected attackers were arrested. The three were charged with felony assault and robbery. Only one of the seven was given bail in lieu of $15,000 bail, as he had a previous disorderly conduct conviction. All others were released.
After word spread about this heinous incident and the resulting public backlash, Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul questioned the Manhattan District Attorney about his handling of the situation. At a press conference, Hochul went on camera and condemned the actions of prosecutors, adding that law enforcement should “get everything and send it back.”
By then, four of the suspects had fled the city. After expending enormous police resources, they were eventually arrested in Arizona, but the rest remained at large. On February 13, one of the suspects was arrested along with several others on suspicion of shoplifting at Queen’s Center Mall, and a security guard who tried to stop the theft was assaulted.
Much of the focus of this episode is on the immigration crisis, but we didn’t hear any commentary on how bail reform or cashless bail has affected this situation. Cashless bail likely would not have prevented the fight that led to the attack on the officers, but in the aftermath six of the seven suspected attackers were released, prompting a nationwide search and local shoplifting arrests. It became. It could have been avoided.
Here on Long Island, Nassau County has been named one of the safest counties in the nation multiple times, thanks to the unparalleled leadership of our men and women in blue and our law enforcement.
Despite this, Long Island is in the midst of a crime epidemic. While violent crime is down, property crime is skyrocketing. Crimes such as auto theft, robbery, and grand larceny are at an unprecedented rate. Retail theft has gotten out of control, with some stores closing their doors and others storing products under lock and key.
The governor has finally woken up and publicly acknowledged that the dramatic increase in retail theft is a statewide problem. Unfortunately, her Band-Aid approach to dealing with this serious situation doesn’t solve the problem.
I believe the root cause of this crime epidemic is the progressive bail reform law passed by the state Legislature in 2020 and approved by Hochul. These laws have weakened the criminal justice system, with cashless bail taking the lead, and have weakened the criminal justice system without fulfilling their original purpose. By abolishing wealth-based detention, we began to send a message to criminals that even if they were caught, they would be released instead of staying in prison. And that message goes beyond crimes like theft and robbery to include more serious crimes like assault, theft, drug dealing, and the use of firearms.
The flaws in bail reform laws are exposed almost daily, yet the media and many elected officials fail to address this issue head-on and instead point to other reasons for the increase in crime we are seeing. ing. I keep coming across reports issued by the Nassau County Police Department documenting horrific criminal activity in which arrests were made, but those involved were released on cashless bail, often continuing to violate the law.
Our criminal justice system should protect victims of crime and not allow perpetrators to commit the same crime again or, in some cases, escalate their criminal behavior. The time has come to abolish bail reform. Albany needs to do it now.
Howard Kopel represents Nassau County’s 7th Legislative District and serves as Speaker of the Assembly.
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