Relationship between crime and bail reform | Herald Community Newspaper

Written by Bill Gaylor

First, the good news. Long Island is consistently cited as one of the safest metropolitan areas in the United States. And in recent years, Nassau County has repeatedly been named the safest county in the nation. Violent crime is down to record lows. The Nassau County Police Department is a department like no other, and we are fortunate to have law and order procedures in place under the leadership of Police Chief Patrick Ryder and District Attorney Ann Donnelly. They are tough on crime and willing to enforce our laws. The highest level of public access legally permitted.

Now, the bad news. Long Island is in the midst of a crime wave. While violent crime is under control, property crime is on the rise. Crimes such as auto theft, robbery, and grand larceny have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. Theft in retail stores has gotten out of control, with many stores storing products under lock and key.

This wasn’t much of a deterrent, as overall theft on Long Island, which includes all thefts except motor vehicles, increased by 34% from 2021 to 2022. According to the New York State Retail Council, retailers are losing about $4.4 billion across the state. Annual loss due to retail theft. And who will pay for it? Naturally, consumers will further contribute to higher inflation by raising retail prices to compensate for losses. Such behavior also puts store employees at risk of assault if they attempt to intervene against a shoplifter.

Why did this happen? In my opinion, it is no coincidence that what we are seeing is directly tied to the progressive bail reform legislation passed by Congressmen in Albany in early 2020. These laws, most notably cashless bail, emboldened criminals who knew they could commit these types of crimes. Prevention of crimes without the fear of going to jail if caught.

Mainstream media and progressive elected officials find all sorts of excuses to gloss over these facts or offer other reasons for this crime epidemic, but bail reform is the main culprit. I believe that something is becoming increasingly clear. On days when his NCPD notice is not issued stating that the offender has been released on cashless bail, although he has been arrested one or more times for committing a crime and the crime included a previous arrest. Almost none. Often these criminals return to the city within hours without fear of repeating or escalating their criminal activity.

Early last year, NCPD issued a warning about organized crime gangs sneaking small teams of men across the border to commit robberies and theft. They knew that if they were caught, they would likely only receive a ticket to appear. Since then, these gangs have committed all kinds of crimes, mostly car thefts, robberies, and retail thefts.

Recently, Governor Kathy Hochul finally woke up and publicly acknowledged that the dramatic increase in retail theft is a statewide problem. Her proposed solutions include creating a task force to combat organized theft in retail stores and providing funding in the form of tax credits to companies that invest in prevention and security measures. There is. The proposal also calls for new sanctions for those caught selling stolen goods.

This Band-Aid approach to dealing with this serious situation will not solve the problem. Instead, what if Albany’s leaders finally accepted the reality that current bail reform isn’t working and needs to be fixed? We’ll start by eliminating cashless bail and aggressively prosecute all thefts, including stolen property under $1,000, while also cracking down on and prosecuting other crimes that negatively impact our quality of life. Then perhaps law and order would prevail and criminals would receive the message that their bad behavior will not go unpunished.

Bill Gaylor represents Nassau County’s 14th Legislative District.