#NYC’s criminal-justice system is utterly failing

For proof that New York City’s criminal-justice system is utterly failing at its most basic function — putting bad guys away — look no further than the long rap sheet of accused Times Square shooter Farrakhan Muhammad.

Cops say Muhammad shot three innocent bystanders, including a 4-year-old girl who was toy shopping with her family, on Saturday. But consider what he’d already “achieved” in his 31 years.

His criminal record, according to Post sources, dates back to January 2007, with a robbery charge for stealing a victim’s phone in Brooklyn, followed by another robbery case in November 2009 for grabbing a woman’s bag while she was loading a car — and fleeing the scene with a second suspect in tow.

Then there’s the 2012 bust where cops seized a 12-gauge shotgun, a 22-caliber handgun and body armor.

He’s also been busted for turnstile jumping and aggravated harassment, and arrested nine times in total, the most recent one coming last March, for assault, after he allegedly grabbed a man by the neck and threw him into a garbage can at 51st Street and Seventh Avenue.

On top of all that, sources say Muhammad was aiming for his brother when he instead clipped those innocent bystanders in Times Square.

Defenders of the “no bail” law insist New York’s criminal-justice system used to jail too many people who didn’t belong behind bars. It’s painfully clear that the main problem was always the opposite.