Career criminals bailed out by New York state’s bail reform law have wrought havoc across New York City, with 10 people booked repeatedly for 485 crimes since the law went into effect in 2020.
The bail reform law eliminated cash bail for most cases involving misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. Judges are allowed, in those cases, to assess pretrial conditions to ensure their return to court.
Statistics compiled by the New York City Police Department have detailed the sprees these criminals have embarked upon.
One unnamed defendant has been busted for crimes 22 times, all in 2022, as cited by the New York Post.
The Number One crook, according to the New York Post, has been arrested 88 times since the bail law passed, with 74 of those arrests coming for larceny.
The defendant has 15 convictions, including three felonies, and has failed to appear in court 14 times. The person currently has two pending prosecutions for five separate thefts from Target locations.
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In a press release, the NYPD detailed even more of these “worst-of-the-worst recidivists.” Some of the defendants listed are still free on New York City streets due to parole or other circumstances. The criminals currently running free include:
— An individual with 63 career arrests, 39 of which occurred since 2020, with 13 arrests for grand larceny auto.
— A repeat offender with 57 arrests since 2020, 23 of which were for burglaries.
— An 87-time recidivist with 25 arrests since 2020, nine of which involved robbery charges.
— An individual with 48 career arrests, including 39 arrests since 2020, 17 grand larceny arrests and ten open warrants.
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in the press release that “nonviolent, first-time offenders deserve a second chance, as the spirit of the state’s 2020 criminal justice reforms envisioned. However, judges should be given the ability to hold career and violent criminals in custody pending trial.”
NYC Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD police officer himself, has lobbied the state repeatedly to roll back or otherwise change the bail reform law.
Mr. Adams said, “Time and time again, our police officers arrest someone who has multiple charges, but no matter how many times this person may have been arrested before, they are often walking free hours later.”
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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