Bail ‘reform’ has made state much less safe

Editor:

A recent letter attacked Congressman Jacobs’ stance on New York State’s disastrous bail “reform.” Another recent letter praises bail reform. The author of both letters suggested Congressman Jacobs attributed a nationwide rise in crime to bail “reform” enacted by New York State.

This was not what the congressperson was suggesting. The congressperson’s letter had two main points– (1) nationwide pro-criminal, soft on crime, and anti-police rhetoric and policies are responsible for nationwide rises in crime and unprovoked attacks on law enforcement; and (2) New York State’s bail “reform” has resulted in an increase in crime across the New York State.

Over the past couple of years, politicians across our country have turned their backs on law enforcement and police officers, to energize and connect with their political bases. They have made law enforcement the “bad guys.”

These politicians and political organizations that spread the message of hate towards police officers are undoubtedly largely responsible for the 346 law enforcement officers shot in 2021, and 115% increase in ambush-style shootings of law enforcement officers in 2021 that Congressman Jacobs referenced. This is an increase compared to the number of officers shot in the line of duty in 2020 (312), and 2019 (293).

The author of both letters claims that bail reform has not contributed to the state-wide rise in crime. However, the victims, and those that have been re-victimized – over and over – would beg to differ.

The bottom line is when an individual is arrested and released on an appearance ticket (when under previous bail laws, they would have been off the streets), and then commits more crimes, those crimes could have been prevented.

Those victims could have been spared the pain and suffering of being victimized. What about the individual who continually violates an order of protection that is supposed to protect a victim of domestic violence? The suspect is simply issued an appearance ticket, and sent on their way, only to keep violating the order, re-victimizing the victim. The list of examples could go on and on.

Perhaps the author of both letters has the privilege of being shielded from the extremely dangerous people that victimize and re-victimize society. Unfortunately, not everyone has that privilege. The reality is that New York State is less safe because of the disastrous bail reform laws. Even district attorneys and leaders in democratic cities (like Buffalo) realize this.

Respectfully,

James White

Albion