New York lawmakers "shoved" bail reform "down the public's throat," and former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said he does not "see a way out of this."
"Crime went up because criminals have the opportunity to commit more crime, and I don't really see the way out of this," Kelly told "The Cats Roundtable" on 970 AM-N.Y.
Kelly was rebuking the ending of cash bail in New York state, which hamstrung judges from keeping accused criminals – who are likely to commit more crime – off the streets.
"If you release 90% of the people that are arrested, that go before a judge, this is going to happen," Kelly told host John Catsimatidis.
Kelly made a call to bring "judicial discretion" to New York's bail reform, meaning a judge can make a determination whether the accused might be a risk to the community to commit more crime.
New York's ending of cash bail had hoped to take the economic and racial bias out of the criminal justice system, but it was passed without proper vetting among the stakeholders.
"The passage of this bail reform act really is the height of arrogance on the part of the New York State Legislature," Kelly concluded. "It exhibits a public-be-damned attitude. They had no public discussions when this legislation was being put together. They had no consultations with district attorneys, with police executives, with judges.
"They just did it because they could do it. And they shoved it down the public's throat, and now we're seeing the ramifications of it."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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