New York City’s top prosecutors criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio for proposing to release prison inmates, including some violent criminals that threaten public safety, over coronavirus concerns.
The district attorneys for the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, and Queens and special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan ripped de Blasio and New York City Department of Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann on Monday for proposing to release “high-risk” criminals during the pandemic, according to a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner.
De Blasio has proposed releasing hundreds of inmates from New York City lockups to decrease inmate populations and slow the spread of the coronavirus within the jail system.
“New York City is facing an unprecedented public health crisis. The only way to achieve social distancing in our facilities and clinically monitor those most at risk for COVID-19 related illness is to release as many people as possible. That’s why we have chosen to pursue the release of medically vulnerable individuals and those with lower level offenses,” the mayor’s office told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
“At the same time, we are doing everything we can to safely and humanely house those in our custody including opening up new housing units to ensure social distancing and moving everyone who is medically vulnerable into dedicated housing units where they can be separated and receive adequate clinical attention,” the statement added.
The six prosecutors, however, said the mayor and corrections commissioner are pushing a “haphazard process” for identifying inmates safe for release, which may have led to the inclusion of sex offenders and those guilty of domestic violence.
“We fully appreciate the unique risks that the COVID-19 virus poses in our jails,” the prosecutors wrote. “At the same time, we want to make clear that the categories of those proposed for release have, in some instances, included individuals who pose a high risk to public safety.”
“In such instances, we have communicated our concerns, but these concerns have not always been heeded. As an example, when we learned last week that the Commissioner of Corrections was about to use her authority to order an across-the-board release of hundreds of inmates serving city sentences, we were assured that the release would not include those serving time for domestic violence or sex offenses, given the risks to victims,” they continued. “Unfortunately, we later learned that such individuals were indeed included in the ranks of those to be released.”
The prosecutors also accused de Blasio and Brann of creating the “perception” that the coronavirus’s risk to city inmates is much greater than it is by poorly vetting inmates, leading to news reports about the potential release of violent criminals.
“We believe this perception is wrong, especially given the recent reduction in the city jail population, and the increased housing options in city jail facilities that should be available as a result,” the prosecutors wrote.
The prosecutors asked de Blasio to reassure the public that the city jail system was capable of offering reasonable protections for inmates against COVID-19 while treating those who are infected.
