Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie keeps insisting, “Nobody has given me real hard data” on why the no-bail law is a menace. Well, the NYPD on Thursday dropped a trove of statistical evidence showing how it has led to a crime spike in the city.
Mayor Bill de Blasio looked on approvingly as Commissioner Dermot Shea and top police brass shared the proof:
- Since Jan. 1, 482 suspects busted for serious felonies were released without bail only to commit another 846 new crimes.Over a third were arrested for one of the seven most serious crimes: murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto.
- As if speaking directly to Heastie and his pro-crime caucus, Shea said, “Each number represents a victim.”
- In addition, more than 11 percent of felony arrests didn’t go forward because district attorneys declined to prosecute, a rise of 34 percent from the same period last year. That’s almost certainly a result of another “reform” passed in the no-bail law, which drastically increases DAs’ workload for simply charging a suspect.
- Crime in January jumped 30 percent from January 2019. Crime in February spiked 20 percent over last year. In all, the first two months of 2020 saw 803 more serious crimes committed than Jan.-Feb. 2019.
We’ve been warning about the impact of this law for much of the last year, but it’s rare indeed to have a prediction so thoroughly borne out.
Heastie has accused The Post and other news outlets of highlighting “cherry-picked stories” to deceive the public about the new law. But the NYPD stats show it’s far more than just anecdotes.
Sorry, Mr. Speaker: As a self-proclaimed “math guy” who’s just been handed solid statistical proof, you have a moral duty to get this law fixed pronto — now, before it can claim hundreds more victims.
