NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill blasted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who ordered judges to more than triple the number of people released without bail.
“The New York City Police Department favors responsible bail reform. There is no reason to hold non-violent minor offenders who pose no danger to public safety on cash bail of any amount,” O’Neill said in a New York Daily News op-ed Tuesday.
“But any reform package should allow judges to remand arrested persons who represent a danger to others, as measured by the gravity of the offense for which they have been arrested and also by the gravity of offenses they have committed in the past,” he said.
De Blasio sent new guidelines to judges this month telling them to “more than triple” the number of people eligible for no-bail release, including violent criminals. The guidelines sent by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice expands the release program to include first and second-degree burglary, assault, and robbery.
“First of all, we’ve had so many people languish in jail because they couldn’t afford bail and that was unfair,” said de Blasio.
“We’ve had mass incarceration that was harmful to the whole society,” the New York Democrat said.
De Blasio said the changes would make a fairer society. The policy, which takes effect Saturday, is targeted at “high-risk” teens but also includes adults.
The expansion of the city’s release program comes as de Blasio promotes criminal justice reform as part of his bid to win 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
“In our city, we have reduced our jail population about 30% already. We’re going to close the infamous Rikers Island jail. We are ending the era of mass incarceration in New York City,” de Blasio said Sunday during a CNN town hall.
[Also read: ‘It is laughable’: NYC police union bash Mayor de Blasio’s presidential run]
