#Cuomo’s weak crime plan misses the real issue: bail reform

Last week, Gov. Cuomo declared gun violence a “disaster emergency” in New York. The governor boasted that the Empire State was the first to issue such a bold declaration. “It is a matter of saving lives,” he said, “and New York’s post-pandemic future depends on it.” People would not come back to cities in our state, he added, “until they know they are safe.”

For those of us in law enforcement, this sudden change in tone came as a welcome surprise. After all, it was barely two years ago when ­Cuomo signed into law sweeping criminal-justice reforms that have transformed the state’s public-safety landscape — for the worse. 

At the time, law-enforcement professionals, led by the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, warned that the reforms would lead to rising crime and a surge of gun violence. As DAASNY’s then-president, I cautioned that the “reckless and irresponsible” legislation would come back to haunt us. 

But the pleas of those of us who have spent our lives fighting crime fell upon deaf ears; the reformers and their media allies framed us as “fear mongers” and hidebound enemies of progress. 

Back then, Cuomo governed the safest large state in the country. Today, he can no longer make that claim. Crime, and especially violent crime, is up by 50 percent to 75 percent — in some places, even more. In Gotham, shootings through June were up 68 percent year-on-year. In Rochester, there were 34 homicides through June, putting the city on track for a higher murder rate than Chicago. 

In Albany, my jurisdiction, 44 people were shot during just the first five months of this year — a 120 percent increase over the five-year average. The chickens have come home to roost. 

Now Cuomo is desperate to ­reverse the crime wave those ­reforms caused. But his plan — a Bureaucracy and Bucks approach — will do little to stop the gun ­violence plaguing our streets.

 Some parts of the plan are ­bizarrely mismatched, such as a new office within the Department of Health to combat crime. Some parts are window dressing, such as ­allowing gun manufacturers to be sued in the future, which will do nothing to stop gun violence now. And some parts, such as funneling money for police in violent areas, simply rebrand the work ­police were already doing. 

Unfortunately, even added funding for enforcement won’t be enough to curb the violence. That is because this surge in violence is not, as the governor seems to imagine, a transient problem caused by COVID. 

To be sure, COVID has accelerated some of these trends (gun crime nationally is up around 21 percent, a far cry from New York’s numbers). But the real problem isn’t catching the criminals roaming the streets with illegal handguns. The real problem is what we do — or rather, don’t do — once we catch them.

A cornerstone of the Cuomo package was bail reform. Under the new law, those arrested for most crimes must be immediately released without setting bail. In many cases, a person arrested for possession of an illegal handgun must be released back on to the streets. And when someone is arrested for one of the few bail-eligible offenses, bail must be set in an amount the person can afford — meaning, again, he is likely to walk free the very day. 

In 48 other states, judges have discretion to consider danger to the community in setting bail. In New York, they are absolutely forbidden to do so. 

Things get worse when the defendant is under 18. Under the new reforms, it is almost impossible to keep those cases in adult court. Instead, the defendants go to family court, where judges are notoriously lacking teeth and where, once again, they are immediately released. Without consequences, those young defendants predictably rack up case after case, emboldened to commit ever more violent crime. 

COVID-19 exposed the tragic ­inequities in our country, as black and brown communities suffered disproportionately. They also suffer disproportionately from gun violence. To reduce gun violence in every community, our leaders must summon the courage to ­reform the reforms. 

If they are serious about gun ­violence, one common-sense ­step stands out: New York must give judges discretion to keep dangerous offenders in jail.

David Soares serves as Albany County’s district attorney.