NYPD detectives union boss blames bail reform as shootings in the city soar by 40% this year and says politicians are 'emboldening' criminals
The head of the union representing NYPD detectives has slammed bail reform as to blame behind soaring crime rates in New York City, where shootings are up another 40 percent so far this year.
'It's the fault of the elected officials. There's a correlation between the bail reform and what's happening in our city,' said Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association, in an interview with Fox News on Monday.
'They're emboldening the criminal element. Shootings are up, crime is up, homicides are up, every crime imaginable is up and the people in the city are the ones that are suffering,' he continued.
NYPD statistics show that shooting incidents rose 40 percent in 2021 through March 21, compared to the same period last year. Murders were up 12 percent.
Paul DiGiacomo (right), president of the NYPD Detectives' Endowment Association, blamed rising shootings and homicides in New York on bail reform measures
Shooting incidents are up 40% in NYC so far this year. Above, surveillance video captures a killer fatally shooting a man in the head outside a Bronx bodega on March 5
Because pandemic lockdowns only took effect in the city in mid-March of 2021, the difference is to believed to be attributable to isolation measures, which briefly sent crime plunging last year.
While gun violence is soaring, some other categories of crime are down significantly so far this year. Robberies dropped 28 percent, felony assault declined 8 percent, and burglaries were down 12 percent.
However the deadliest crimes continue to rise, and New York City has witnessed a string of shocking violent attacks on subways and other public places.
Auto thefts are also up 15 percent this year. DiGiacomo places the blame for the crime increases squarely on bail reform.
Bail is money posted by criminal suspects in order to secure their release before trial, and the cash is returned to the person after they appear before the court to resolve their case.
Last January 1, New York state enacted a sweeping law that banned cash bail requirements for suspects facing a wide range of charges, including stalking, assault without serious injury, burglary, many drug offenses, and even some kinds of arson and robbery.
Cumulative shooting incident totals show NYC surpassing last year's totals by 40% so far
Murders in the city are up 12% this year from last year, NYPD data shows
Though the state scaled back the law last summer after an alarming uptick in crime, bail remains optional for a wide range of offenses, and suspects in New York City are often released quickly after arrest without posting bail.
Defenders of the reforms say that bail is unfair to those who can't afford it, and possibly even racist, but critics say the changes let dangerous criminals loose to re-offend.
'It's definitely attributed to the bail reform and the recent change in laws in the city council,' DiGiacomo said of the rising violent crime.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson responded asking him: 'Do you think the people who made these changes believed that crime would go down when they made them?'
'I think they were just riding the wave of what was popular, and they weren't doing what was in the best interest of the people of the city of New York,' DiGiacomo replied.
Police at the scene where a man was fatally shot on Rosedale Avenue near Bronx River Avenue in the Bronx, NY around 5:15 p.m. on March 5
Last week, the New York City Council made another sweeping change that was blasted by police unions, passing a bill that would make it the first major city in the nation to end qualified immunity for police officers.
Qualified immunity protects government officials, including police officers, from individual lawsuits over actions in the course of their duties, unless plaintiffs can clearly show that their constitutional rights were violated.
The New York City Council voted on Thursday to end qualified immunity for police officers which will open the door for them to face civil lawsuits once the bill is signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio.
'Together, the State and federal versions of qualified immunity have effectively prevented countless victims of police brutality and their families from obtaining financial damages and holding officers and the cities that employ them accountable,' the release reads.
Last summer, the city announced a range of reforms and moved to divert $1 billion from the NYPD budget after protests across the nation in the wake of George Floyd's death.
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